The reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) with pregnant women

Abstract

This methodological study was planned to translate the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) into Turkish and to investigate its reliability for both nulliparous and parous women in Turkish population. A total of 660 healthy women with normal pregnancies at gestational ages of between 28 and 40 weeks were recruited. The internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α) was used for determining the reliability of the W-DEQ. Construct validity was also determined utilizing the known-groups method. In this study, independent sample t-tests were used to compare the nulliparous and parous groups differing in known fear status. In order to test the construct of the W-DEQ, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale and Brief Measure of Worry Severity scales were chosen as these scales are expected to correlate with the W-DEQ. Analysis of the construct validity of the W-DEQ version A using Pearson's correlation coefficients was performed for both nulliparous and parous women separately. All the scales in both groups showed a statistically significant correlation with the W-DEQ. The alpha coefficient (0.89) is well above the 0.70 criterion for internal consistency reliability. Turkish form of Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version A was fixed as reliable and valid means to measure the level of fear of childbirth among Turkish pregnants.