Psychometric Evaluation of the Anxiety Assessment Scale for Pregnant Women in Labor in an Iranian Population.

Background: Anxiety Assessment Scale for pregnant women in labor (AASPWL), which includes nine items in two subdomains, has been designed as the first specific tool for assessing the anxiety of pregnant mothers in labor. Anxiety is one of the most common psychological complications of mothers in labor and one of the factors affecting the experience of childbirth and maternal delivery satisfaction. Until now, a questionnaire concerning women's anxiety in labor has not yet been used in Iran. This tool can better determine maternal anxiety compared to other general tools and help take necessary measures if needed; however, its validity and reliability have not been determined. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of AASPWL in Iranian women.

Materials and methods: Through purposive sampling, 180 pregnant women hospitalized for labor between 2021 and 2022 were included in the study. AASPWL was evaluated regarding face and content validity using a quantitative method and construct validity (through confirmatory factor analyses). The questionnaire's reliability was determined using the internal consistency method.

Results: In this study, the Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) of the AASPWL instrument were 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. The impact score of all items was above 1.5. The values of the fit indices confirmed the validity of the model. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.72 for factor 1, 0.66 for factor 2, and 0.65 for the whole instrument.

Conclusions: The Persian version of AASPWL is a reliable and trustworthy tool for evaluating labor anxiety regarding Iranian women.