Psychometric properties of the Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) among pregnant women in Abbottabad, Pakistan

BACKGROUND: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a widely used instrument to measure anxiety and depression symptoms. AIMS: This study aimed to translate, validate and test the applicability of the Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS/UV) among pregnant women. METHODS: The original English version of the HADS was translated into Urdu by three bilingual experts and retranslated to English using the forward–backward approach. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 200 pregnant women availing obstetrics and gynaecology services for routine prenatal check-ups of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Psychometric properties of the instrument, including reliability (internal consistency, test–retest analysis and interitems correlation), were tested. Face and content validity were also assessed. Content Validity Index (CVI) was determined using the average approach and Item-Level Content Validity Index (I-CVI) and Scale-Level Content Validity Index (S-CVI) were calculated accordingly. Construct validity was examined through exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: Cronbach’s alpha coefficient has been found to be 0.82 for the anxiety subscale and 0.64 for the depression subscale, while overall alpha of the HADS/UV is 0.84. The Urdu version is content valid, and the S-CVI of anxiety subscale, depression subscale and HADS/UV are 0.947, 948 and 0.947, respectively. Test–retest reliability is 0.884 and 0.934 as measured by Pearson correlation and intraclass correlation, respectively. HADS/UV items correlated positively with the whole scale (p<0.001). Factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed that two factors explained 42.75% of the variance. Items’ distribution was quite similar to the original HADS. CONCLUSION: The HADS/UV is a psychometrically sound instrument with satisfactory measurement, including good internal consistency. The instrument shows promise to be a sound tool to assess anxiety and depression in pregnancy.