Development and validation of the Prejudice about Cesarean Birth Scale (PCBS) in a Turkish sample: a methodological study

Türkiye is one of the countries with highest cesarean rates in the world. Just as cesarean sections may be used in necessary situations, they may also be used in situations without necessity. Sociocultural misinformation and communication in society may cause prejudice with stigmatizing dimensions among women about cesarean. This situation may affect both the physiological and psychological health of women. There is no instrument in the literature allowing measurement of prejudices related to cesarean sections in society. In this context, the study aimed to develop an understandable, valid and reliable scale that is able to measure prejudices related to cesarean birth in society. For the Prejudice about Cesarean Birth Scale (PCBS), an item pool was created by screening the literature and opinions were sought from twelve experts. Data for the methodological study were collected from individuals reached through online platforms. Psychometric features were assessed through structural validity, content validity and internal consistency reliability of the scale. The study sample comprised 409 individuals. For exploratory factor analysis, data were collected from 203 individuals, while for confirmatory factor analysis, data were collected from 206 individuals. The final scale comprised a 13-item, single-factor structure explaining 48.5% of the total variance. Of the fit indices in CFA, the following values were found RMSEA = 0.061, GFI = 0.922, AGFI = 0.886, CFI = 0.942, TLI = 0.927, IFI = 0.943. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient for the total scale was 0.865, with a Guttman split-half coefficient of 0.799 and a Spearman-Brown coefficient of 0.800. PCBS is a valid and reliable instrument in terms of psychometric features. Further research may be conducted to develop the scale and strengthen the validity.