ArticleBMJ open2022
Evaluation of the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy Scale in the UK: a psychometric analysis including predictive validity.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Comparing Approaches to Measuring Prospective Fertility Desires in the United States: A Population-based Study.Maternal and child health journal · 2026Article
- Using Intervention Mapping to Codevelop Orchid, a Digital Tool for Reproductive Life Planning: Development and Feasibility Study.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Perinatal mental health and reproductive behavior among women in wartime Ukraine: a cohort study protocol.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Evaluation of the relationship between the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy Scale and contraceptive use among women living with HIV in western Kenya.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Pregnancy Preferences and Incident Pregnancy in the US.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Factors Associated With Contraceptive Initiation and Use Among Women Who Have Given Birth in the Last Year: Findings From the 2023 Women's Reproductive Health Survey.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025Article
- Psychometric evaluation of the desire to avoid pregnancy scale in India.Contraception · 2025Article
- Article
- How, when, and who should ask about pregnancy intentions in primary care? A qualitative study of primary healthcare professionals' preferences.BJGP open · 2024Article
- How, when, and who should ask about pregnancy intentions in primary care? A qualitative study of women's preferences.Family practice · 2024Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with contraceptive use among sexually active adolescent girls in 25 sub-Saharan African countries.PloS one · 2024Article
- Predictive ability of the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy scale.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Desire to Avoid Pregnancy scale: clinical considerations and comparison with other questions about pregnancy preferences.BMJ sexual & reproductive health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo evaluate the psychometric performance, including predictive validity, of a UK version of the Desire to Avoid Pregnancy (DAP) scale.
designProspective cohort study for psychometric evaluation.
settingUK.
participantsWomen in the UK aged 15 years to menopause, who were not pregnant at the time of recruitment in October 2018, were eligible. 994 women completed the baseline survey and 90.2% of women eligible for the 12-month survey participated. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The DAP scale was assessed according to key measurement properties of validity (construct (structural and hypothesis testing) and criterion (predictive)), reliability (internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest using intraclass correlation coefficients, ICC) and differential item functioning. Item response and classical test theory methods were used.
resultsThe scale was acceptable, understandable and showed good targeting with the full range of scores captured. Construct validity was demonstrated on hypothesis testing, with odds of contraceptive use increasing threefold with each increasing DAP point (range: 0-4). Eighty per cent of women with the lowest DAP score became pregnant within 12 months, compared with <1% of those with the highest DAP score. Reliability, both in terms of internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.96) and test-retest (ICC 0.95), was excellent. Some tests of structural validity, in relation to model fit with the item-response model, were not met, and investigations suggest further exploration of the factor structure of the DAP is required in other samples. Item 5, regarding relationship with a partner, showed differential item functioning by age, number of children and relationship group.
conclusionsThe UK DAP is a valid and reliable measure of women's DAP and is highly predictive of pregnancy within the next 12 months. Further evaluations should continue the assessment of the factor structure and the performance of the item relating to the partner.
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