The antenatal risk questionnaire-revised: Development, use and test-retest reliability in a community sample of pregnant women in Australia

Nicole Reilly; Deborah Loxton; Emma Black; Marie-Paule Austin

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.081

The antenatal risk questionnaire-revised: Development, use and test-retest reliability in a community sample of pregnant women in Australia

J Affect Disord. 2021 Oct 1:293:43-50. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.081. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Authors

Nicole Reilly¹, Deborah Loxton², Emma Black³, Marie-Paule Austin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Health Service Development, Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; Perinatal and Women's Mental Health Unit, St John of God Burwood Hospital and School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: nreilly@uow.edu.au.
² Research Centre for Generational Health and Ageing, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia; Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
³ Drug and Alcohol Services, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Surry Hills NSW and Discipline of Addiction Medicine, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia.
⁴ Perinatal and Women's Mental Health Unit, St John of God Burwood Hospital and School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, NSW, Australia; Black Dog Institute, NSW, Australia; Royal Hospital for Women, NSW, Australia.

PMID: 34166908
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.05.081

Abstract

Background: Routine psychosocial assessment during pregnancy and the first postnatal year is a public health strategy that prioritises early identification of known risk factors for poor perinatal mental health. We aimed to report on the development and use of the Antenatal Risk Questionnaire-Revised (ANRQ-R), contribute normative data for a community sample of pregnant women and examine its test-retest reliability.

Methods: The ANRQ-R was developed in consultation with an expert advisory group. Women completed the ANRQ-R with their midwife at their first antenatal appointment. Test-retest analysis was restricted to women who consented to follow-up and completed a repeat ANRQ-R within four weeks.

Results: 7183 women completed the ANRQ-R (total score M = 12.05, Mdn=10; range =5-49). There were some statistically significant differences in total score across maternal age group (χ²=69.75, p<.001), country of birth (χ²=144.01, p<.001) and socioeconomic quintiles (χ²=20.13, p<.001), however the effect sizes of all differences were either small or not clinically significant. Test-retest reliability for the ANRQ-R total score was good (N = 1670; ICC=0.77). Item-level test-retest reliabilities were moderate to good (ICC range=0.65-0.80; kappa coefficient range=0.31-0.74).

Limitations: The study was conducted at a single site. Although there was significant diversity in terms of maternal age and country of birth, the majority of participants were partnered and resided in socio-economically advantaged areas, limiting the generalisability of results.

Conclusions: This study contributes significant normative data for the ANRQ-R and offers valuable insights for clinicians and researchers working with particular sub-groups of the perinatal population. Additional psychometric examination of the ANRQ-R, including its concurrent and predictive validity, is required.

Keywords: Assessment; Pregnancy; Psychosocial; Risk.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Parturition*
Pregnancy
Pregnant Women*
Psychometrics
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires