The Diastasis Rectus Abdominis Questionnaire: development and initial validation of a questionnaire for the evaluation of the symptoms and consequences of diastasis rectus abdominis

The objective of this projet is the development of the Diastasis Rectus Abdominis Questionnaire (DRAQ), a specific questionnaire for the evaluation and quantification of symptoms and consequences of DRA in adult females with this condition. Stage 1. Expert panel: Spanish item development 33 items were developped to mesure the symptoms and consequences of diastasis rectus abdominis in women with this condition. These items were evaluated by the expert panel, which was composed of eleven experts qualified in women’s health management and/or with extensive experience in methodology. All items obtained a value greater than or equal to 0.8 for “clarity” and “coherence”. Three items obtained a score of less than 0.8 in relevance and were therefore withdrawn. Based on those results, and taking in account the remarks given by the members of the expert panel, a second version of the questionnaire was created. Stage 2. Pilot test of the Spanish DRAQ Thirty females with DRA evaluated the items generated by the expert panel and rated the relevance, clarity and coherence of each one of the items. Three of the items were eliminated, since they were considered irrelevant. The final version of the questionnaire was created with the remaining 27 items. Internal consistency of the Spanish version of the DRAQ was calculated and the total Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.972. The Spanish version of DRAQ did not present a ceiling or floor effect, as no subject scored the minimum (0 points) or the maximum (108 points). Stage 3. Pilot test of the English version of DRAQ Thirty females with DRA answered the questionnaire and evaluated the relevance, clarity and coherence of the items. Several participants commented about the lack of clarity of one item, which was replaced and re-evaluated. This modified item obtained adequate scores on clarity (Aiken’s V: 0.833) and relevance (Aiken’s V: 0.895). Internal consistency of the English version of DRAQ was calculated and Total Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.937. The English version of DRAQ did not present a ceiling or floor effect, since no subject scored the minimum (0 points) or the maximum (108 points).