The constipation assessment scale for pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the reliability and validity of the Constipation Assessment Scale (CAS) during pregnancy.

DESIGN

Survey.

SETTING

The assessment tool was administered first to a group of healthy women of childbearing age in a school of nursing and then to pregnant women in their physicians' offices.

PARTICIPANTS

A nonrandom sample of 16 nonpregnant women of childbearing age and 30 women pregnant 28 weeks or longer, 15 of whom had low-risk pregnancies and 15 of whom had high-risk pregnancies.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The test-retest reliability, content validity, and internal consistency of the CAS were determined.

RESULTS

An expert panel review found a calculated percentage of agreement for content validity of .75 and a Cohen's kappa of .714. Test-retest reliability based on 16 nursing students yielded high positive correlations ranging from rH = .84 to rH = .92. Internal consistency of the CAS for pregnancy based on the 30 surveys indicated an alpha coefficient of .82.

CONCLUSIONS

The CAS for pregnancy was found to be reliable and valid within the context of this study. Future studies designed to identify potential therapeutic interventions for constipation during pregnancy could use the CAS for pregnancy as a measurement instrument.