Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Properties of the Chinese Version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire

Abstract

Purpose: To translate the Surgical Fear Questionnaire into Chinese, to culturally adapt, and test the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire.

Design: The translation and cultural adaptation process followed Sousa's guidelines, including the evaluation of this scale by the selected participants and content validity measurement by experts. A cross-sectional design was employed to the psychometric properties evaluation phase.

Methods: A convenience sample of 336 participants from three hospitals was recruited between July 2019 and December 2019. Internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale were analyzed.

Findings: Confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses of the Chinese version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire yielded a two-factor solution, with each factor comprised of four items, which were the same as the original English scale. The Chinese version showed a moderate correlation with the two domains of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega in the present sample showed excellent internal consistency.

Conclusions: The Chinese version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire is a reliable and valid instrument to assess the fear before surgical procedures under general anesthesia.

Keywords: Surgical Fear Questionnaire; fear; perioperative period; reliability; validity.