Development and Validation Questionnaire for Medication Safety Perceptions Among Lactating Mothers: A Rasch Analysis
Keywords:
Medication, Perception, Psychometrics, QuestionnaireAbstract
Medication safety during lactation is a significant concern in community pharmacy and public health. Medicine have potential risk to infant health via breast milk. Mother perceptions of medication safety during lactation remains crucial. This study aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire to assess mothers' perceptions of medication safety during lactation using the Rasch measurement model. A cross-sectional study was conducted in breastfeeding mothers from Banyumas City, Indonesia. A two-step approach was used: item generation and validation through expert review. Rasch analysis, conducted using Winsteps software, evaluated the instrument's psychometric properties, including item difficulty and person ability, based on the Rasch model. This study enrolled 126 participants and the study revealed 15 items have strong psychometric properties, with high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.94) and unidimensionality (55.2% variance explained). Rasch analysis confirmed the validity of the instrument, with 15 items achieved the thresholds except for item P13, which was removed due to misfit. The instrument successfully distinguished between varying levels of respondent ability, confirming its reliability and suitability for measuring medication safety perceptions during lactation. The developed instrument provides a reliable and valid tool for assessing mothers' perceptions of medication safety during lactation. While this instruments demonstrates strong psychometric properties, further refinement was needed, particularly for misfitting items. Future research should focus on expanding the sample size and validating the instrument across diverse populations.
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