SynthesisReproductive health2024
The psychometric properties of fear of childbirth instruments: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Reproductive health, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Psychometric and clinical validation of the fear of childbirth questionnaire in a UK population.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Effects of internet-based supportive intervention on knowledge, pregnancy stress, fear of childbirth, and pregnancy outcomes in primiparas.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Investigating health literacy and its associations with fear of childbirth in pregnant women: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Validation of a Questionnaire Assessing Pregnant Women's Perspectives on Addressing the Psychological Challenges of Childbirth.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnxiety disorders with a specific focus on fear of childbirth (FOC) are the most common mental health challenges in perinatal women. The accurate measurement of FOC is important for correctly identifying women with FOC, as well as for identifying the target population for treatment. We aimed to review FOC scales and evaluate their psychometric properties via the COSMIN methodology to identify the most suitable available instruments.
methodsWe conducted this systematic review via a comprehensive search of databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct and ProQuest, to identify articles published from inception to May 2024 via combined keywords related to tools that assess FOC in women during pregnancy or postpartum period. The quality of the psychometric properties of the included studies was evaluated via the COSMIN checklist.
resultsOf the 1160 records found initially, 47 articles were included in this review, 24 of which were related to the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ). According to the recommended categorization of the COSMIN methodology, among the 18 assessed scales, the Fear of Childbirth Questionnaire (FCQ) was categorized as A, and 11 scales, including the Fear-of-delivery Questionnaire (FDQ), W-DEQ-A & B, Delivery Fear Scale (DFS), Fear of Birth Scale (FOBS), Birth Anticipation Scale (BAS), Childbirth Fear Questionnaire (CFQ), Childbirth Fear Scale (CSF), Slade-Pais Expectations of Childbirth Scale (SPECS), and unnamed tools by Melender et al. (2005) and Eriksson et al. (2005) were categorized as B.
conclusionAccording to the findings, the FCQ can be recommended for evaluating pregnant women with FOC. The measures categorized as B are potentially recommended for use, but further research is needed to evaluate the quality of this group.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.