The validity and reliability study of the reproductive autonomy scale in turkish

The Validity and Reliability Study of the Reproductive Autonomy Scale in Turkish Aim: This study aims to assess the validity and the reliability in Turkish of the Reproductive Autonomy Scale, on Turkish society, which was developed by Upadhyay et al. (2014) and whose original name is "Reproductive Autonomy Scale". Methods: 280 women who applied to the gynaecology and obstetrics outpatient clinics of Süleyman Demirel University Research and Training Hospital and met the sampling criteria were included in the methodologically performed study. Women of the sample were asked to fill the İntroduction Form, Reproductive Autonomy Scale and Reproductive Coercion Scale. The Reproductive Autonomy Scale's validity was assessed performing language, content, construct and criterion-related validity. For reliability, Cronbach Alpha, half-test, test-retest coefficients and item analysis were performed. Results: The language validity of the Reproductive Autonomy Scale was ensured by the translation-back-translation method. The Content Validity Index of the scale was determined as 0,96. The Kaiser-Meyer Olkin value was determined as 0,801 while the Bartlett sphericity test as p=0,000. During Exploratory Factor Analysis, the total variance was determined as 58.60% and a 3-factor structure with 14 items was established. This structure was confirmed during Confirmatory Factor Analysis (χ2=170,55; df=72; χ2/df=2.36; RMSEA=0,074; CFI=0,943; GFI=0,968). A negative linear correlation was found between the Reproductive Autonomy Scale and the Reproductive Coercion Scale. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient value was found 0,801. A high correlation was achieved in the test retest analysis (r=0.993; p=0.000). The results item-total, item-remaining and item-discriminant analysis were found to be significant. Conclusion: The Reproductive Autonomy Scale is a valid and reliable measurement instrument for assessing reproductive autonomy in Turkish society. Keywords: Reproduction, Autonomy, Scale, Reliability, Validity.