title: German translation of the Southampton Needle Sensation Questionnaire: use in an experimental acupuncture study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To create a German version of the Southampton Needle Sensation Questionnaire (SNSQ) in order to measure deqi (needling sensation) in subjects receiving different forms of acupuncture and to evaluate the translated questionnaire in an acupuncture study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A forward and backward translation procedure was applied to create a German version of the SNSQ. Discrepancies between translations were resolved by consensus. Healthy participants from an experimental acupuncture trial were asked to fill in the resulting questionnaire comprising of 17 items (none (0) to intense (3)) and a visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain (0-100 mm) after receiving either sham or real acupuncture with or without stimulation. The questionnaire was validated using factor analysis and correlation analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires from 63 subjects (mean 27.1 years; 69.8% female) were included in the analysis. Participants tended to score toward the low end of each of the 17 items (mean sum score (± SD): 8.9 ± 7.0). Four factors with eigenvalues > 1 were identified using exploratory factor analysis. Both of the original subscales, aching deqi (AD) and tingling deqi (TD), showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α: AD: 0.71; TD: 0.78) and medium test-retest reliability (AD: r = 0.538, p = 0.002; TD: r = 0.603, p < 0.001). AD feeling (r = 0.574, p < 0.001) and TD feeling (r = 0.496, p < 0.001) correlated with the VAS for pain.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Factor structure of the original questionnaire could not be reproduced with the German version of the SNSQ in an experimental setting. The questionnaire could not discriminate between pain and deqi. Further research is needed to create a German tool which is more suitable to measure deqi.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and Health Economics, Charité University Medical Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany. daniel.pach@charite.de
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pach
authors.forename: Cynthia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lüdtke
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zimmermann-Viehoff
authors.forename: Claudia M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thiele
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014175:Translating