The Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE-24): Configural, Measurement, and Structural Invariance between Nulliparas and Multiparas and across Two Measurement Time Points.

BACKGROUND

The severity of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) correlates with pregnancy complications. This study aimed to confirm the measurement and structural invariance of the 24 h Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis and Nausea (PUQE-24) regarding parity and observation time among pregnant women during the first trimester.

METHODS

Questionnaires including the PUQE-24 and the Health-Related Quality of Life for Nausea and Vomiting during Pregnancy (NVP-QOL) questionnaire were distributed to pregnant women from 10 to 13 weeks of gestation who were attending antenatal clinics. There were 382 respondents, and of these, 129 responded to the PUQE-24 again one week later.

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis of this single factor model showed a good fit with the data: CFI = 1.000. The PUQE-24 factor and NVP-QOL factor were strongly correlated ( = 82). Configural, measurement, and structural invariance of the factor structure of the PUQE items were confirmed between primiparas and multiparas as well as at the test and retest observation occasions.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggested that using the PUQE-24 among pregnant women in the first trimester was robust in its factor structure. The PUQE-24 may be a promising tool as an easy and robust measure of the severity of nausea and vomiting among pregnant women.