The Validity and Reliability of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (Version A) in Primiparous Women in Mashhad, Iran

Background: Although pregnancy and childbirth are physiological processes, fear of childbirth is a common problem that is often associated with requests for cesarean delivery. This study was undertaken to determine the validity and reliability of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire A (W-DEQ [A]) primiparous women in Mashhad, Iran.

Methods: This study was conducted on 220 primiparous women with a gestational age of 28-30 weeks referred to health centers in Mashhad. Using demographic questionnaire, Beck's Anxiety Inventory, Beck's Depression Inventory, and the W-DEQ (A), for determining the validity and reliability of the W-DEQ (A), first two linguists translated the questionnaire into Persian; then, two other linguists translated the Persian version back into English. The content validity of this version was then assessed by expert faculty members. The final version was sent to the questionnaire's original developers (Klass Wijma and Barbro Wijma) and then used after their approval. Factor analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results: The result of actor analysis revealed six factors, forming 58.8% of the total variance. The reliability of this questionnaire was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.84, and the fear of childbirth was found to be correlated with Beck's anxiety (r=0.414) and depression (r=0.287) scores.

Conclusion: The W-DEQ (A) is a valid and reliable tool for measuring the fear of childbirth and is recommended to be used for measuring the fear of childbirth among Iranian women.