Satisfaction with obstetrical care: Development and validation of a scale on quality of care

Objectives To develop and validate a subjective and multidimensional scale to measure satisfaction in obstetrical care (SSO) during labour, delivery and two hours postpartum, which is relevant to the French-speaking context. Patients et methods Forty partially directed patient interviews during the 48 hours after delivery and four care-giver interviews were conducted to build up the questionnaire. After a prior feasibility study on 40 patients, the psychometric validity of the questionnaire was evaluated by calculating the Cronbach coefficient of reliability for 432 patients. Results Hundred and eighty items were initially obtained after content analysis of the patient interviews. Expert meetings finally selected 49 items classified within 5 dimensions. The feasibility study showed that the questionnaire was easily accepted and understood with a mean time of 15 minutes to answer it. Cronbach coefficients were respectively at 0.941, 0.949, 0.808, 0.814 et 0.869 for the 5 dimensions. Discussion and conclusion SSO questionnaire is a reliable and relevant scale to measure immediate postpartum quality of care in French. © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.