Linguistic validation of the sleep disturbance scale for children (SDSC) in Iranian children with Persian language.

Objective: The aim of this study was to have a linguistic validation of the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC) in Iranian children with Persian language.

Methods: The study included a randomly selected sample of children, aged 6-15 years, from three primary and secondary schools located in Isfahan City, Iran. Following the forward-backward translation method, parents completed the SDSC as well as the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Reliability (Cronbach's α) and convergent validity (item-subscale and subscale-total correlations) were assessed. The association of SDSC scores with PedsQL scores was evaluated for construct validity.

Results: One hundred children were studied; mean age, 9.36±2.58 years, 68 girls. Scale Cronbach's α was 0.82, ranging from 0.40 for 'disorder of arousal' to 0.86 for 'sleep hyperhidrosis' subscales. Convergent validity was acceptable according to the corrected item-subscale correlations (r = 0.22-0.76) and corrected subscale-total correlations (r = 0.30-0.50). The SDSC total score as well as its subscales, except the 'disorder of arousal', were associated with the total PedsQL score and its factors (r = -0.20 to -0.64).

Conclusions: The overall psychometric properties of the Persian version of the SDSC seem to be appropriate in Iranian children.