Validation of the French version of the esophageal hypervigilance and anxiety scale

•Esophageal hypervigilance and anxiety scale was originally developed in English.•This scale is validated in French for patients with esophageal functional disorders.•The French version can be interpreted using the original score. An esophageal hypervigilance and anxiety scale (EHAS) was developed in English to assess the psychological process in patients with esophageal disorders. The aim of the current study was to validate this scale in French. Patients referred for esophageal high resolution manometry (HRM) were offered to fill out different questionnaires including EHAS, Eckart score and gastro-esophageal reflux disease-questionnaire (GERDQ) score. EHAS was translated in French by 2 French native speaker experts in esophageal motility. Patients were grouped according to the indications of HRM (dysphagia, reflux, other). The total EHAS score was calculated and compared between groups. The validation method used the assessment of internal consistency with Cronbach’s α and reliability with Guttman split-half reliability. Among the 607 patients who accepted to fill out questionnaires, the EHAS questionnaire was completed and analyzable in 469 patients. The total score had an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach’s α = 0.91) and reliability (Guttman statistic = 0.86). EHAS score was not different between groups while Eckardt score was logically higher in patients with dysphagia than in others (p