Reliability and validity of the Swedish version of the modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale

摘要

Background The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (m-YPAS) is an observational behavioral checklist that has been widely used as an indicator of pre-operative anxiety in children. The present study describes the translation process of m-YPAS into Swedish and the testing of its reliability and validity when used with Swedish children. Methods The questionnaire was translated using standard forward-back-forward translation technique. The validation process was divided into two phases: a pilot study with 61 children as a first version and a test of a final version with 102 children. Results The reliability tested with Cronbachs alpha was acceptable to good. Interrater reliability analyzed with weighted kappa was acceptable to good with Students Registered Nurse Anesthetists and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) as evaluators (phase 1) and good to excellent with CRNAs very experienced in child anesthesia (phase 2). Both concurrent and constructed validity could be demonstrated. Conclusion This validation study of the Swedish version of the m-YPAS shows good consistency, interrater validity, and construct validity when used by experienced assessors.