Psychometric Validation of a Patient-Reported Measure of Pregnancy and Motherhood Experiences in Turkish Women with Physical Disabilities

Mehmet ÇOPUROĞLU,1 Özge BAYKAN ÇOPUROĞLU,2 Hanife ABAKAY,2 Ayşe GÜÇ3 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri City Hospital, Kayseri, 38080, Turkey; 2Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Incesu Ayşe and Saffet Arslan Health Services Vocational School, Kayseri University, Kayseri, 38280, Turkey; 3Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kayseri City Hospital, Kayseri, 38080, TurkeyCorrespondence: Mehmet ÇOPUROĞLU, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kayseri City Hospital, Kayseri, 38080, Turkey, Email [email protected]: Women with physical disabilities experience distinct physical, psychological, and social challenges during pregnancy and motherhood, yet culturally appropriate and psychometrically validated patient-reported outcome measures remain limited. The Pregnancy and Motherhood Evaluation Questionnaire (PMEQ) was developed to address this gap. No validated instrument currently captures these experiences in the Turkish context. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and comprehensively validate the PMEQ for use in the Turkish population.Methods: The PMEQ was translated and culturally adapted in line with internationally accepted cross-cultural adaptation procedures for self-report instruments, including forward–backward translation, expert review, and cognitive debriefing. The study included 160 Turkish women with chronic physical disabilities who had experienced pregnancy and early motherhood. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega. Construct validity was examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and test–retest reliability was evaluated over a 10-day interval using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).Results: The Turkish PMEQ demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.90; ω = 0.92). Exploratory factor analysis identified a four-factor structure explaining 64.1% of the total variance. Confirmatory factor analysis supported this structure, showing good model fit (χ2/df = 2.1, RMSEA = 0.056, CFI = 0.94, TLI = 0.91, SRMR = 0.045). Test–retest reliability was high, with ICCs ranging from 0.79 to 0.86 across subscales and 0.88 for the total score. The factor structure was consistent with the original PMEQ framework.Conclusion: The Turkish version of the PMEQ is a valid and reliable patient-reported outcome measure for assessing pregnancy and motherhood experiences among women with physical disabilities. This study provides the first culturally validated tool for this population in Turkey, addressing a critical gap in disability-inclusive maternal health assessment.Keywords: pregnancy and motherhood, disability, psychometric validation, cross-cultural adaptation, Turkish