• Ingrid Bergh, Tina Söderlund, Linda Vinterskog, and Lena B Mårtensson.
• School of Life Sciences, University of Skövde, Box 408, SE-541 28 Skövde, Sweden. Ingrid.bergh@his.se
• Midwifery. 2012 Oct 1; 28 (5): e684-8.

Objectiveto investigate the reliability and validity of the Acceptance Symptom Assessment Scale (ASAS) in assessing labour pain.Designa test-retest approach was used to assess reliability and validity.Settinglabour ward with approximately 2,400 deliveries annually in western part of Sweden.Participantsforty-seven pregnant women in the latent or active phase of labour.Methodsa total of five pain assessments with both the ASAS and the VAS were conducted in three sessions.Main Outcome Measurescorrelation between ASAS and VAS.Findingsboth scales demonstrated high and significant test-retest correlations (r=0.83-0.92; p<0.001). High and significant alternative-form reliability correlations (r=0.76-0.93, p<0.001) were found between ASAS and VAS ratings at all five assessments. Construct validity was established when both the ASAS and the VAS identified a pain reduction (p<0.001) 2 hrs after birth, compared to the previous assessment. Over two-thirds of the women preferred the ASAS to the VAS, mainly (n=30) because the ASAS provided more choices relating to the pain experience, making it possible to label pain acceptable/unacceptable.Conclusionsthe ASAS is interchangeable with the VAS for assessing labour pain. Over two-thirds of the women preferred it to the VAS.Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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