Translation, cultural adaptation, and psychometric properties of the surgical fear questionnaire in Brazilian surgery patients

Background
The Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) was developed to assess self-report ed surgical fear. The availability of a specific instrument for the identifi cation of fears related to surgery will help nurses identify the cause of fear and start the development of specific interventions.
Aims
To culturally adapt the SFQ to Brazilian Portuguese-speaking people and analyze the psychometric properties of this scale in patients in the pre-operative period.
Method
A convenience sample of 112 preoperative patients was included in this descriptive cross-sectional study. The convergent construct validity between the SFQ and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was assessed through the Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Internal reli ability was evaluated by Cronbach’s alpha. The discriminant construct validity was investigated through the Student’s t-test for male and female.
Results
The SFQ correlated positively with the HADS (HADS-Anxiety: r=0.51 and p=0.01; HADS-Depression: r=0.33 and p=0.01), providing evidence for its construct validity. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients showed satisfactory internal consistency (0.85). There was evidence for discriminant validity in relation to gender (Student’s t p<0.05).
Limitations and Implications
The study used a convenience sample and was conducted at a single institution. This scale can be used in research or in clinical practice to identify surgical fear.
Conclusion
The SFQ Brazilian version is a valid and reliable instrument to assess the fear of patients who will undergo a surgical procedure.