Page 147 - Pro-active Management of Women’s Health after Cardiometabolic Complicated Pregnancies

3.4 Motivators and barriers to a healthy postpartum lifestyle| 145
Analysis
Ethnicity was classified according to Heart and Stroke Foundation criteria261. Educational level was assessed by the highest completed education and reclassified into three categories: primary school, secondary school and higher education262. Self-reported weight and height was used to calculate 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.
Focus groups were audio taped, 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 principles249 263. Content analyses is a methodology to systematically analyze the content of communication. It’s commonly used to analyze recorded transcripts of interviews. Discussion topics were identified, sorted and labeled according to the technique of content analysis. Discussion topics were examined across groups and for all groups combined.
RESULTS
Participants
Recruitment rate was 19.8%. Of the 36 women that participated in the focus group interviews, 21 had preeclampsia, 4 intrauterine growth restriction, 5 gestational diabetes, and 6 women had both preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. The number of participants per group ranged from 4 to 10 (average 6). Women were 5.8 to 19.0 months postpartum at the time of the focus groups. Demographic data and clinical characteristics of the participants