Page 128 - Pro-active Management of Women’s Health after Cardiometabolic Complicated Pregnancies

126 | Part 3 Lifestyle intervention
about 60 minutes each. Prior to the interviews, participants provided informed consent and completed a questionnaire assessing ethnicity (Dutch, non-Dutch), level of education (primary school, secondary school, and higher education) smoking (yes, no), and self-reported weight and height. A moderator (M.H.), assisted by a facilitator (D.B/ W.B), led the focus group interviews. Interviews were audiotaped, and were held in line with focus group principles provided by Morgan et al244. A semi structured focus group discussion guide was used to structure discussion topics.
Analysis
Questionnaire
Self-reported weight and height were used to calculate the body mass index (BMI). A BMI of 25 or higher was defined as overweight and 30 or higher as obesity. Birth weight and gestational age at delivery were retrieved from hospital records. A participant was designated to be of non-Dutch ethnic origin if one of her parents was born abroad245. Educational level was assessed by the highest completed education and reclassified into three categories: 1) primary school, 2) secondary school and 3) higher education246.
Interviews
Focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and checked for accuracy. After transcripts were made, a qualitative data analysis program (the software package QSR Nvivo, version 7) was used to analyze the transcripts in accordance with content analysis principles244. Discussion topics were identified, sorted, and labeled according to the technique of content analysis. A systematic summary of what each group said about a topic was made. Discussion topics