The cultural adaptation and validation of a Swedish version of the satisfaction with appearance scale (SWAP-Swe).
BACKGROUND
Body image dissatisfaction is a source of stress after burns and it is important to attempt to objectively measure this aspect. Unfortunately, there are no Swedish questionnaires to assess satisfaction of appearance after burns.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to translate, culturally adapt and validate the Satisfaction With Appearance Scale (SWAP) into Swedish from American English to be used in the context of burn care.


METHODS
The SWAP was translated and cross-cultural adapted inspired by the guidelines by Guillemin. Pre-testing with 13 burn patients was conducted and 90 patients tested the questionnaire in order to determine its psychometric properties.


RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha was 0.89 indicating a high level of internal consistency of Swedish SWAP. Test for construct validity showed that length of hospital stay, more severe burns and female gender generated significantly higher scores in SWAP-Swe. The principal-components analysis found similar subscales according to the original SWAP that together accounted for 68% of the total variance.


CONCLUSIONS
SWAP-Swe is a reliable and valid instrument for use in a Swedish speaking population. The questionnaire was perceived to be relevant for usage in the context of burn care and is well understood by the patients.
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Section of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: oili.dahl@ki.se.
Oili
O
Dahl
Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Section of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Marie
M
Wickman
Department of Neurobiology Care Science and Society, Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institutet, 23300, 141 83 Huddinge, Sweden.
Yvonne
Y
Wengström
D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D002056:Burns / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019838:Neck Injuries / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden
Body image; Burn injury; Cross-cultural adaptation; Disfigurement; Questionnaire; Satisfaction With Appearance Scale; Translation