Psychometric properties of satisfaction with the childbirth education class questionnaire for Iranian population

BACKGROUND: Childbirth preparation classes can reduce pregnant women’s anxiety and fear for their childbirth. However, to evaluate women’s feedback and their satisfaction with these classes, there is a need for a standard instrument that is suitable for Iranian context. This study is aimed to translate and conduct a psychometric analysis of the Satisfaction with the Childbirth Education Class Questionnaire (SCECQ) for Iranian population. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated from English into Persian through the forward-backward translation method. The cluster sampling method was employed to select 205 pregnant women with gestational age of 35–37 weeks from all health complexes of Tabriz, Iran. The face, content, and construct validity of the research instrument were assessed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were measured to evaluate the overall reliability of the questionnaire. RESULTS: The impact scores of all items were above 1.5. The content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) of the questionnaire were 0.88 and 0.94, respectively. The convergent construct validity of the whole questionnaire and those of its three subscales were confirmed through the exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The factor loadings of no items were below 0.3, and the X(2)/df ratio was smaller than 5. The overall model validity was confirmed by having the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) smaller than 0.08. Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were 0.93 and 0.96, respectively, indicating the acceptable reliability of the questionnaire. CONCLUSION: The Persian version of this questionnaire, entitled SCECQ is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring Iranian women’s satisfaction with childbirth education classes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12884-020-03349-1.