Turkish Adaptation and Reliability of Bad Sobemheim Stress Questionnaire in Adolescents With Idiopathic Scoliosis Using Spinal Brace

Objective: Interest of health professionals has been increased on stress and quality of life. Currently, there is no questionnaire in Turkish language to evaluate the stress level of adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Considering this deficiency in the field, the Bad Sobernheim Stress Questionnaire (BSSQ) was translated into Turkish and reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated on adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis using spinal orthoses. Metarials and Methods: Thirty-eight adolescents (31 girls, 7 boys, aged 8-17 years) with idiopathic scoliosis and using same type of spinal orthoses, "CAD-technique" (Regnier system-Cheneau brace) for 20-23 hours per day for at least two months were included in the study. Test-retest reliability (Pearson Correlation Coefficient) and internal consistency of the scores were evaluated using the Turkish BSSQ scores collected from the participants twice, one week apart. Results: The mean age of the adolescents was 13.47 +/- 2.93 years and the mean Cobb angle was 39.05 +/- 11.17 degrees. In terms of internal consistency of Turkish BSSQ Cronbach alfa was calculated as 0.88. Test-retest analysis of the scores, collected twice one week apart, revealed correlation coefficients changing from 0.647 (p=0.003) to 0.978 (p=0.001). Conclusion: In this study, we reported high test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the Turkish BSSQ on adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis using spinal ortheses. The Turkish BSSQ created in this study is a practical and reliable scale to evaluate stress levels in Turkish adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. Turk J Phys Med Rehab 2012;58:225-8.