Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric characteristics of the Chinese Version of the Obstetric Violence Scale: A Cross-sectional Study

Background: Obstetric violence is a specific form of human rights violation and a public health issue that can occur throughout pregnancy and childbirth. In clinical practice in China, such phenomena already exist, yet there is still a lack of targeted and standardized assessment tools. Objective: This study aims to systematically translate the internationally widely used "Obstetric Violence Scale" (OVS) and adapt it to Chinese culture, and to test its reliability, validity, and psychometric characteristics among Chinese women, so as to provide a preliminary assessment tool for future research on the identification and intervention of obstetric violence. Method: In accordance with the principle of localization of the scale, the original obstetric violence scale was translated into Chinese using the Brislin back-translation model; 9 experts were invited to conduct cross-cultural calibration of the scale. After expert inquiries and pre-surveys, the Chinese version of the obstetric violence scale was formed. Researchers conducted a questionnaire survey on 406 women in Jinan City, Shandong Province through the online Wenjuanxing platform platform. The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the obstetric violence scale were verified through exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and internal consistency tests. Result: The obstetric stress scale in the Chinese version consists of 14 items, with a variance contribution rate of 60.365%. The content validity index of the scale item level ranges from 0.889 to 1.000, and the content validity index of the scale average level is 0.952. The reliability indicators are stable, with a total Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.940, a split-half reliability of 0.948, and a retest reliability of 0.939. The confirmatory factor analysis results show that the model fits well, with χ²/DF = 1.624, RMSEA = 0.054, and CFI = 0.971. Conclusion: The obstetric violence scale developed in Chinese version has good reliability and validity. It can be used as an effective tool to assess the obstetric violence experiences of Chinese women, providing quantitative basis for improving the quality of obstetric services and formulating targeted intervention strategies.