The development and psychometric evaluation of a self-efficacy scale for practicing pelvic floor exercises

Abstract

| Background: Self-efficacy has been shown to be a predictor of many health-related behaviors, including the practice of pelvic floor exercises with a focus on prevention or cure. Objectives: To describe the process of construction and the psychometric properties of the scale of self-efficacy for the practice of pelvic floor exercises (EAPEAP). Method: A cross-sectional study of validation was carried out with 81 from community and 96 postpartum women, 54.8% of them complained of urinary leakage. An exploratory factor analysis and internal consistency analysis was performed.To check predictive capacity, we analyzed the adherence at 3 months post -intervention and compared the scores of self-efficacy between adherent and non-adherent women. Reliability was analyzed by split half procedure. Results: The instrument showed α=0.923, and revealed three factors: performance expectation considering the action, performance expectation considering the preparation for action and outcome expectations. These factors accounted for 65.32% of the total variance. The instrument was able to differentiate between women who adhere and have not adhered to the exercises (U=352, p=0.013) and there was strong correlation between the two halves of the instrument (rho=0.889, p<0.001). Conclusion: The scale is a valid and reliable tool to measure self-efficacy to practice pelvic floor exercises.Keywords: self-efficacy; pelvic floor; movement; validation studies; adherence. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLESacomori C, Cardoso FL, Porto IP, Negri NB. The development and psychometric evaluation of a self-efficacy scale for practicing pelvic floor exercises. Braz J Phys Ther. 2013 July-Aug; 17(4):336-342. http://dx

Pelvic‐floor‐muscle‐training adherence “modifiers”: A review of primary qualitative studies—2011 ICS State‐of‐the‐Science Seminar research paper III of IV

“…Comparing individual response items from the three measures of PFMT self‐efficacy and the Incontinence Treatment Motivation Questionnaire to the six modifiers, we could map each item to one or more of the modifier categories. Response items in these instruments often included multiple modifiers.…”

“…We found congruence between our findings and existing measures of PFMT self-efficacy and treatment motivation, as well as with broader theories of health behavior and adherence. 27 Comparing individual response items from the three measures of PFMT self-efficacy [28][29][30] and the Incontinence Treatment Motivation Questionnaire 31 to the six modifiers, we could map each item to one or more of the modifier categories. Response items in these instruments often included multiple modifiers.…”

The role of vaginal palpation in motor learning of the pelvic floor muscles for women with stress urinary incontinence: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…The occurrence of associated contractions of the abdominal, gluteal, and adductor muscles during the voluntary contraction of the PFMs before and immediately after the intervention; and 4. Self-efficacy, before and immediately after the intervention, as measured by the self-efficacy scale for the practice of pelvic floor exercises [12].…”

“…The specific objectives are to compare the experimental group (verbal instructions + body awareness techniques + vaginal palpation) and the control group (verbal instructions + body awareness techniques) with regard to the following factors: The number of fast-twitch muscle fibres, as determined by the number of effective contractions (fast contractions with maximal force lasting 1 s each) out of ten contractions performed [ 11 ], before and immediately after the intervention; PFM function (voluntary contraction of the PFMs) and muscular endurance (duration of the muscular contractions in seconds), as measured by the Oxford scale [ 11 ], before and immediately after the intervention; The occurrence of associated contractions of the abdominal, gluteal, and adductor muscles during the voluntary contraction of the PFMs before and immediately after the intervention; and Self-efficacy, before and immediately after the intervention, as measured by the self-efficacy scale for the practice of pelvic floor exercises [ 12 ]. …”

The effects of individual pelvic floor muscle training versus individual treatment with progression to group versus group training for women with stress urinary incontinence: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

“…The SESPPFE was elaborated and validated by Sacomori et al (2013) and developed based on the instructions provided by Bandura(2008), it is a scale that aims to predict adherence to PFMT in which 13 items of the scale measure the selfefficacy in the areas expected performance, considering the action and the preparation for action, plus four items assessing the expectation results. 11,18 The data collected in these reassessments will include the urinary symptoms, miccional diary, KHQ, pelvic floor muscles functional asessment, perineometry, SESPPFE, exercise diary and presence of the participants in the surpevisioned sessions. The study design, including the monitoring and follow up are described in the timeline below as shown in Figure 1.…”