Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Fear of Relapse Scale (FoR) in individuals with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the Fear of Relapse Scale (FoR) into Turkish and determine its psychometric properties. Methods: International guidelines were used for the translation and adaptation process. The patients were asked to fill the FoR, Intolerance of Uncertainty (IUS-12) and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). One week later, participants refilled the FoR. The test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and construct validity of the FoR were analyzed. Results: A total of 101 MS patients (37.6 +/- 10.0 years, 81.2% women) were included in the research. The test retest reliability of the FoR was excellent (ICC:0.883; CI:0.64-0.92). The reproducibility of the items of the FoR ranged from 0.2 to 0.8. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the FoR was 0.914. The internal consistency of the items was ranged between 0.90 and 0.91 The relationship between FoR with IUS-12, DASS-21 (depression), DASS-21 (anxiety), DASS-21 (stress) was 0.609, 0.641, 0.648 and 0.631, respectively. The correlation coefficients were greater than 0.50 (p < 0.01). Conclusion: The Turkish version of the FoR is a reliable and valid tool to measure relapse fear in patients with MS.