The French version of the surgical fear questionnaire is a valid and reproducible score to assess the fear of surgery

Abstract

BackroundThe Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) is a reliable tool to measure fear of surgery. It is the only self-reporting questionnaire that is suitable for all adult surgeries. It has been translated into numerous languages from the original Dutch version, but there is no French version to date. The aim of this study was to draft and validate a French version of the SFQ. MethodsA prospective study including 83 subjects who were scheduled for hallux valgus surgery was performed. The validity of the SFQ was based on its correlation to the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), using Spearman's correlation coefficient. The internal consistency of the SFQ was determined by the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, while the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate reliability. ResultsThe average total French SFQ score was 36.7. There was a strong correlation between the French SFQ score and the two subscales of the STAI scale, STAI-Y1 and STAI-Y2, with a Spearman correlation of 0.65 (0.49–0,77) and 0.62 (0.45–0.76), respectively. The internal consistency was high, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.93 (0.91–0.95), indicating limited redundancy. The reliability was good, with an ICC of 0.77 (0.60–0.87). LimitationsThe main limitations of this study were the population which was mainly women, the redundancy of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and the lack of a standardized moment in time to fill in the questionnaire. ConclusionThe French version of SFQ is a valid, reproducible tool to assess the fear of surgery in adult patients.