Hacer UNVER KOCA, Sermin TIMUR TASHAN
Hacettepe Üniversitesi Hemşirelik Fakültesi Dergisi - 2025;12(3):215-223
Aim: This study aims to translate the Antepartum Gastrointestinal Symptom Assessment Instrument (AP-GI-SA) to Turkish, perform its cultural adaptation, and determine its reliability and validity. Material and Methods: This methodological study was conducted with 411 healthy pregnant women in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimesters. Three phases, which included language validity and content validity followed by a pilot test, were followed for the cultural adaptation of the scale. Construct validity analyses included Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Reliability of the AP-GI-SA was enhanced through Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient as well as test-retest analysis and parallel form. Results: In the study, the highest Antepartum Gastrointestinal Symptom Assessment scale mean score was found in the 3rd trimester (33.40+/-11.43). According to EFA analysis results, the AP-GI-SA had nine items and one sub-scale. The results showed that the scale explained 54.3% of the total variance, and the Cronbach's alpha was found 0.67. The CFA supported the one-factor structure of the scale. Besides, the test-retest analysis indicated a high correlation. Pregnant women in the third trimester were found to have the highest average AP-GI-SA score. Conclusions: This study shows that the AP-GI-SA is a valid tool which is also reliable to be utilized for measuring gastrointestinal symptoms during pregnancy in Turkish society. Implication for nursing practice: Experiencing GI symptoms in pregnancy is a known problem. The AP-GI-SA is a practical and useful scale for identifying these problems.
