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Sleep disturbance scale for children: translation, cultural adaptation, and validation
Vanessa Ruotolo Ferreira1, Luciane B C Carvalho, Fabiana Ruotolo
1Federal University of Sao Paulo, Department of Medicine, Brazil.
Insights
The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) was successfully translated and validated for Brazilian Portuguese. This tool can effectively screen for sleep-disordered breathing in children within population studies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Psychometrics
- Cross-cultural Adaptation
Background:
- The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) is a 26-item tool for assessing sleep in children aged 3-18 years.
- It identifies various sleep conditions, including sleep breathing disorders and excessive somnolence.
- Validation for the Brazilian Portuguese population was needed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To translate and culturally adapt the SDSC for Brazilian Portuguese.
- To validate the translated instrument for use in Brazil.
- To assess its reliability and validity in a pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- The study involved forward and back translation, pretesting, and sample size calculation.
- Validation included reliability (Cronbach's alpha) and convergent (Pearson correlation) analyses.
- Discriminatory validity was assessed by comparing SDSC scores with polysomnography (PSG) results.
Main Results:
- The scale underwent semantic, experiential, conceptual, and cultural adaptation for the Brazilian context.
- Reliability analysis yielded values greater than 0.55, indicating good internal consistency.
- The SDSC demonstrated reasonable convergent validity and significant discriminatory validity for sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), with three questions effectively screening for SDB.
Conclusions:
- The Brazilian Portuguese version of the SDSC is validated, showing good internal consistency and validity.
- The instrument is suitable for population-based studies to screen for sleep-disordered breathing in children.
- The adapted SDSC provides a reliable tool for pediatric sleep assessment in Brazil.
Introduction:
The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) is a 26-item instrument for evaluating sleep among children aged 3-18 years. It differentiates among conditions such as disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, sleep breathing disorders, disorders of arousal, sleep-wake transition disorders, excessive somnolence, and sleep hyperhydrosis. The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt, and validate it for Brazilian Portuguese.
Method:
The study was carried out in two phases: (1) forward translation, back translation, pretesting, and calculation of sample size; (2) validation: reliability (Chronbach's alpha), convergent analysis (Pearson correlation), and discriminatory validity (comparing the scores of the test with the results of polysomnography). One hundred children, aged 3-18 years, accompanied by their parents and/or guardians participated in the phases. PSG studies have been done to calculate the sample size and validation.
Results:
The scale instructions and items were adapted regarding semantic, experiential, conceptual, and cultural equivalence validation. The scale structure related to visual communication was also adapted to Brazilian population preference and habits, and this resulted in a chart with clear instructions and easy recognition of the statements and possible responses. Reliability analysis showed values greater than 0.55. There has been reasonable convergent validity. Discriminatory validity using the PSG study for positive sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) was 8.9, attesting discriminatory validity only for SDB. The three questions of the scale can screen SDB.
Conclusion:
The SDSC was translated, adapted and validated for Brazilian Portuguese, and it presented internal consistency and convergent and discriminatory validity. It can be used in population-based studies in order to screen for sleep-disordered breathing in children.
