The development and test-retest reliability of the periodic health evaluation for female athletes (PHE FA) survey

ABSTRACT

Objectives

To develop and assess the test-retest reliability of a survey exploring Australian high-performance female athlete’s perspectives toward the periodic health evaluation and their perceived health needs.

Methods

A structured three-phase method for survey development was used to develop the periodic health evaluation for female athletes (PHE FA) survey. Initially, a literature review and gap analysis was performed to identify themes and questions (Phase 1). Survey questions were developed covering demographic information (n = 9); sports-related medical screening (n = 19) and health needs and information (n = 7) (Phase 2). Test-retest reliability of the survey was then assessed (Phase 3). The survey was administered to a purposeful sample of seven high-performance level female athletes who completed the survey, on two separate occasions, 3 weeks apart via Checkbox© survey software (Checkbox Technology Inc., San Francisco, CA). Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Results

The mean age of the athletes was 29 years (SD 4 years, range 24–34 years). All were able-bodied athletes and 71% participated in team sports. Eighty-six percent of athletes have competed in world championships and 71% were Olympians. The average ICC of all items was 0.998 (95% CI 0.997–0.998, p = 0.000) demonstrating excellent consistency of measures between the two time points.

All the athletes preferred a Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician to conduct their PHE and 86% preferred a female doctor. The key topics of interest were pelvic floor health including incontinence (100%); fertility (86%); pregnancy (71%); and mental and emotional wellbeing (71%). Face-to-face education was the preferred option to receive health information.

Conclusions

The PHE FA survey was co-created with an athlete and other key stakeholders. Excellent consistency of measures between the two time points was indicated by the high test-retest reliability of the PHE FA survey. Data collected using the PHE FA survey can contribute to informed evidence-based policies, and processes to support the health and wellbeing of female athletes.

KEYWORDS:

• Female athlete
• women’s sport
• physical activity
• preventative medicine
• injury prevention

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the athletes for their participation in this pilot study and Dr Victoria Forsdick for her input in the survey development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00913847.2022.2158386

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.