Validation of a web-based questionnaire for pregnant women to assess utilization of internet: survey among an Italian sample

Abstract BACKGROUND: Objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the web-based questionnaire in pregnant women as a tool to examine prevalence, knowledge and attitudes about internet utilization for health-related purposes, in a sample of Italian pregnant women. METHODS: The questionnaire was composed by 9 sections for a total of 73 items. Reliability analysis was tested and content validity was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha to check internal consistency. Statistical analysis was performed through SPSS 13.0. RESULTS: Questionnaire was administered to 56 pregnant women. The higher value of Cronbach's alpha resulted on 61 items: alpha = 0.786 (n. 73 items: alpha = 0.579). High rate of pregnant women generally utilized internet (87.5%) and the 92.1% confirmed to use internet with the focus to acquire information about pregnancy (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire showed a good reliability property in the pilot study. In terms of internal consistency and validity appeared to have a good performance. Given the high prevalence of pregnant women that use internet to search information about their pregnancy status, professional healthcare workers should give advice regarding official websites where they could retrieve safe information and learn knowledge based on scientific evidence.