Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation into French of the Birth Satisfaction Scale - Revised (BSS-R)

The Birth Satisfaction Scale - Revised (BSS-R) is a widely used patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for assessing childbirth experience. However, no French translation and adaption currently exists, limiting its use in French-speaking populations. The objective of this study was to translate and adapt the BSS-R into French (Fr-BSS-R).

The questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted using a structured 10-step procedure in line with the guidelines of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). During the cognitive debriefing stage, 15 mothers evaluated each item, scoring their level of comprehension on a scale from 1 to 10.

The French version was very well understood by the 15 mothers, with a mean comprehension score of 9.5 ± 1.1 out of 10. Both forward and backward translations were very consistent and considered accurate by the original developer. Five ratings out of 150 (3%) were < 7 and concerned items 1, 3, 8 and 9. Comments prompted the authors to slightly modify the French translation produced to improve semantic equivalence.

This work presents the creation of a French adaptation of the BSS-R (Fr-BSS-R), developed in accordance with ISPOR guidelines for translation and cross-cultural adaptation, thereby enabling its application in French-speaking populations. Future research should investigate the psychometric properties of the Fr-BSS-R to support its broader use in French-speaking populations.