AbstractBackground: The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale is regarded as the gold standard tool for measuring obsessive-compulsive disorder symptom severity. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale - Second Edition was developed for better measurement.
Aim of the study to translate Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale II into the Arabic language, and to evaluate its validity and reliability according to Iraqi culture.
Methods: The original Y-BOCS-II was translated into Arabic, which involved forward and backward translation. Modification and cross-cultural adaptation were made. The psychometric properties were evaluated by administering the questionnaire to 210 participants. Results the Iraqi Y-BOCS-II Severity scale had excellent validity. While, the Symptoms Checklist showed a significant statistical value in differentiating between OCD cases and the general population, but not statistically significant in comparison with patients with other psychiatric disorders, reliability, the mean difference between the first and second measurements showed good stability between the two- time stations. Conclusion the Iraqi version of Y-BOCS-II severity scale is valid and reliable in evaluating the severity of the obsessive-compulsive disorder. And the Symptoms checklist is reliable also, and valid regarding the healthy subjects but has no role in detect OCD symptoms in patients with other psychiatric disorders.
