The Translation of Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) into Arabic

Background: early detection of perinatal anxiety using appropriate measures helps in reducing maternal and fetal complication. WHO guidelines for instrument translation and adaptation provide rigor and transparent method for Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS) translation and expand the knowledge in diversity cultural contexts. Aim: to describe the process of cultural adaptation of the PASS into the Jordanian context based on the WHO framework for instrument translation and adaptation. Methods: PASS was completed by a convenience sample of 31 pregnant women. In which PASS went through WHO framework for instrument translation and adaptation process includes forward translation, expert panel, blind back translation, pre testing and cognitive interview, and the final version is ready for piloting. Some comments were added to three items by five expert panel, then the modified version was ready for piloting. Result: the internal consistency reliability of PASS was 0.869 and five experts who reviewed PASS confirmed the scale appropriateness and clarity after a slight modification to three items. Participants found PASS in general easy to complete but some of them found difficulties in understanding two items located in the Perfectionism, control and trauma subscale where they need an explanation of their meaning to answer them. Conclusion: using WHO guidelines for instruments translation considered a rigorous method and revealed that PASS is reliable and valid tool to be used within the Jordanian context to measure perinatal anxiety. However, the focus on explaining items 11 and 14 to participants is important due to difficulty in understanding their meaning.