Psychometric Properties of the Turkish Version of the Rating Scale of Pain Expression during Childbirth Scale (ESVADOPA-TR)

Background: Evaluation of a specific and dynamic pain, such as labor pain, with a situation-specific measurement tool will increase the quality of care given during childbirth. The Rating Scale of Pain Expression during Childbirth (ESVADOPA) is a situation-specific measurement tool for labor pain. The aim was to examine the psychometric properties of a Turkish version of the ESVADOPA scale. Methods: This study utilized a methodological design. Participants were 158 pregnant women at term and in spontaneous labor. Two measurements were performed during the passive and active phases of labor. To avoid bias between the raters, all the evaluations were performed by a single midwife. Validity analyses of the scale were performed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Results: The scale was composed of a one-factor structure that had an eigenvalue of over 1 and explained 71.79% of the variance. Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient of the scale is 0.92. An analysis of the factor structure showed that the item factor loads ranged between 0.729 and 0.897. In the confirmatory factor analysis, the results showed that the data had a good fit with the model. Conclusions: The Turkish version of the ESVADOPA was found to have high reliability and validity for determining the expression of pain during childbirth.