Development and Validation of a Revised VAS-Anxiety Measurement Tools for Preschool Hospitalized Children

Abstract

Background: The visual analogue scale (VAS) instrument is proven to be reliable in measuring anxiety. Experts argue, however, that measuring the aspect of psychosocial trauma in a different language has limitations, especially among hospitalised children under the age of six. As a result, the study sought to revise and validate a trustworthy, child-friendly VAS for use in Indonesia. Methods: A preliminary survey was conducted among 81 respondents that met the inclusion criteria. An expert committee reviewed and revised the VAS-Anxiety-Indonesia for sensitivity and content validity. Thus, the Centre of Indonesia Language was charged with forward and backward translation from English to Indonesian and vice versa. In this study, data were collected in two phases. The first was the preliminary data collection from 21 respondents for face and content validity. The second phase recruited 60 respondents with retests and confirmations of modified items and components of VAS-A-Indonesia. Statistical analysis used a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.05. The second test performed the content validity index, item correlation analysis, internal consistency for reliability testing, and Exploratory Factor Analysis. Results: The instrument consists of 12 items. With three factors to measure anxiety, they accounted for 65.2% of the overall variance. The content validity index was 0.825 (Aiken's V), item correlations ranged from 0.354 to 0.686, and Cronbach's alpha was 0.837. Conclusion: The Indonesian version of the VAS-A was a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the anxiety of preschoolers admitted to hospitals.