Development and preliminary psychometric evaluation of the postpartum sexual and reproductive health questionnaire (PSRHQ) in Iranian women

The postpartum period is a critical phase in a woman’s life. This study aimed to develop and psychometrically evaluate a questionnaire designed to assess sexual and reproductive health among postpartum women. This exploratory sequential mixed-method study was conducted in three phases.

In the qualitative phase, 17 mothers, 5 husbands, and 6 midwives participated in semi-structured interviews. Based on the findings, an item pool was developed. In the psychometric phase, content validity, face validity, construct validity and reliability were examined.

A total of 98 initial items were generated. After content and face validity assessments, followed by construct validity assessment, the initial 98-item pool was reduced to a final 26-item questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) extracted four factors: spouse abuse, postpartum care, marital problems, and psychological-emotional problems.

The total Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.899, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.846, providing evidence of satisfactory internal consistency and test–retest reliability. The PSRHQ demonstrated preliminary evidence of validity and satisfactory reliability for assessing multiple dimensions of postpartum sexual and reproductive health. Further validation, including confirmatory factor analysis and evaluation of criterion-related, longitudinal, and cross-cultural measurement properties, is needed before broader application.

Postpartum sexual and reproductive health questionnaire Sexual quality of life assessment scale during postpartum This study is derived from a PhD dissertation in Reproductive Health, funded by the Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. We are grateful to the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, and all the mothers, healthcare workers, and midwives who participated in our research. The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Nazanin Rezaei, Nasibeh Sharifi & Safoura Taheri Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Masoumeh Namazi & Zahra Behboodi Moghadam School of Medicine, Student Research Committee, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran Correspondence to Zahra Behboodi Moghadam or Safoura Taheri. The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (IR.TUMS.FNM.REC.1401.072; approved September 28, 2022) (S1.