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The validity and reliability of the Arabic translation of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire
1Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, PO Box 80215, Jeddah, 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Insights
The Arabic version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) is a reliable tool for screening childhood obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This validated questionnaire can be safely used in Saudi children, offering a practical alternative to polysomnography.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Sleep Medicine
- Respiratory Medicine
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a prevalent childhood sleep disorder.
- Polysomnography, the gold standard for OSA diagnosis, is resource-intensive.
- The Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) offers a validated, sensitive, and specific screening alternative.
Purpose of the Study:
- To translate the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) into Saudi Arabian Arabic.
- To validate the culturally adapted Arabic-PSQ for screening childhood OSA.
- To establish the reliability and validity of the Arabic-PSQ in a Saudi pediatric population.
Main Methods:
- Forward-backward translation methodology was employed for the Arabic-PSQ.
- Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and kappa statistics.
- Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) evaluated the scale's validity.
Main Results:
- The Arabic-PSQ demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.946).
- All subscales (snoring, sleepiness, behavior) showed high reliability.
- Test-retest reliability indicated excellent agreement (>80%) across all items.
Conclusions:
- The Arabic-PSQ is a reliable, validated, and culturally adapted screening tool for childhood OSA.
- It can be safely implemented for OSA screening in Saudi children.
- Future research should assess the diagnostic efficacy of the Arabic-PSQ.
Objective/Background:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder in childhood. Polysomnography is the gold standard for the diagnosis of OSA. However, it is expensive and time-consuming, and it may be unavailable. The self-administered Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire (PSQ) is a reliable and validated screening test featuring high sensitivity (0.85) and specificity (0.87). It has been translated into multiple languages and is widely used to screen for OSA in children. This study translated the PSQ into Saudi Arabian Arabic and validated it.
Patients/Methods:
The Arabic-PSQ was translated using forward-backward translation, following established guidelines. A review committee monitored the process and approved the final version. The reliability of the scale was measured using Cronbach's alpha and kappa statistics. The validity of the Arabic-PSQ was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).
Results:
Our study recruited 220 Saudi children with potential adenoid hypertrophy from King Abdulaziz University hospital clinics. The Arabic-PSQ had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.946). Additionally, all subscales had excellent reliability, with Cronbach's α of 0.924 for snoring, 0.762 for sleepiness, and 0.820 for behavior. Test-retest reliability showed excellent agreement of >80% in all items (p < 0.0001). CFA for the Arabic-PSQ confirmed a significant correlation between the items of each subscale.
Conclusions:
The Arabic-PSQ is reliable, validated, and culturally adapted. It can be safely used to screen for OSA in children. However, given this study's limitations, the diagnostic efficacy of the Arabic-PSQ should be assessed in future studies.
