Pilot Exploratory Factor Analysis of a Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology-Based Technology Acceptance Instrument for Virtual Antenatal Consultation

The field of maternal and child health (MCH) is witnessing a growing adoption of digital health technologies, with antenatal care increasingly incorporating virtual consultation (VC) services to enhance accessibility, continuity and quality of care for expectant mothers.This study focuses on the development and preliminary validation of an adapted instrument designed to assess antenatal mothers' acceptance E\FA of VC Acceptance Instrument in Antenatal Care Med & Health Jul 2026; 21(2): 1094-1119 of VC services, grounded in an extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model and incorporating the construct of self-efficacy and health literacy to reflect key contextual factors relevant to digital healthcare use among pregnant women.A pilot study involving 103 respondents from Malaysian primary health clinics was conducted and Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed to examine the instrument's initial psychometric properties.Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.01), and all constructs demonstrated adequate sampling adequacy (KMO > 0.60).Factor loadings exceeded 0.60 for all retained items, and Cronbach's alpha values were above 0.90, indicating very strong internal consistency; however, these values were interpreted cautiously, as very high alpha may also indicate potential item redundancy, which will be evaluated in the subsequent confirmatory phase.As an exploratory measurement phase, the findings provide preliminary evidence of construct clarity rather than full validation.The instrument offers an initial foundation for assessing VC acceptance among antenatal mothers, with further validation through Confirmatory Factor Analysis planned in the subsequent main study.