ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2022
Fear of childbirth: validation of the Kiswahili version of Wijma delivery expectancy/experience questionnaire versions A and B in Tanzania.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- The psychometric properties of fear of childbirth instruments: a systematic review.Reproductive health · 2024Pooled it
- Convergent validity between two questionnaires that evaluate fear of childbirth validated in spanish: childbirth fear questionnaire (CFQ-e) and Wijma delivery expectancy questionnaire (WDEQ-A-Sp).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Psychometric properties of the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire version A among Chinese expectant fathers.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Patterns and predictors of fear of childbirth and depressive symptoms over time in a cohort of women in the Pwani region, Tanzania.PloS one · 2022Article
- Rates of fear of childbirth after previous cesarean section in Dire Dawa City, Ethiopia.Women's health (London, England)Article
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6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFear of childbirth is common both before and after childbirth, often leading to complications in mother and new-born. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaires (W-DEQ) are commonly used to measure fear of childbirth among women before (version A) and after childbirth (version B). The tools are not yet validated in the Tanzanian context. This study aimed to validate the reliability, validity, and factorial structure of their Kiswahili translations.
methodsA longitudinal study was conducted in six public health facilities in the Pwani region, Tanzania. In all, 694 pregnant and 625 postnatal women were concurrently selected and responded to W-DEQ-A and W-DEQ-B. Validation involved: translating the English questionnaires into Kiswahili; expert rating of the relevancy of the Kiswahili versions' items; computing content validity ratio; piloting the tools; data collection; statistical analysis with reliability evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and the intraclass correlation coefficient. Tool validity was assessed using factor analysis, convergent and discriminant validity. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted on data collected using W-DEQ-A and W-DEQ-B, respectively.
resultsExploratory factor analysis revealed seven factors contributing to 50% of the total variation. Four items did not load to any factor and were deleted. The factors identified were: fear; lack of self-efficacy; lack of positive anticipation; isolation; concerns for the baby; negative emotions; lack of positive behaviour. The factors correlated differently with each other and with the total scores. Both Kiswahili versions with 33 items had good internal consistency, with Cronbach's alphas of .83 and .85, respectively. The concerns for the baby factor showed both convergent and discriminant validity. The other six factors showed some problems with convergent validity. The final model from the confirmatory factor analysis yielded 29 items with good psychometric properties (χ
conclusionsThe Kiswahili W-DEQ-A-Revised and W-DEQ-B-Revised are reliable tools and measure fear of childbirth with a multifactorial structure, encompassing seven factors with 29 items. They are recommended for measuring fear of childbirth among pregnant and postnatal Tanzanian women. Further studies are needed to address the inconsistent convergent validity in the revised versions and assess the psychometric properties of W-DEQ-A among pregnant women across gestational ages.
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