Applicability and Psychometric Comparison of the General-Population Viral Anxiety Rating Scales among Healthcare Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Changnam Kim, Oli Ahmed, Washington Allysson Dantas Silva, C. Hyung Keun Park, Soyoung Yoo () and Seockhoon Chung ()
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Changnam Kim: Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Changwon Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University of Medicine, Changwon 06351, Korea
Oli Ahmed: Department of Psychology, University of Chittagong, Chattogram 4331, Bangladesh
Washington Allysson Dantas Silva: Department of Psychology, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, PB, Brazil
C. Hyung Keun Park: Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea
Soyoung Yoo: Department of Convergence Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea
Seockhoon Chung: Department of Psychiatry, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul 05505, Korea

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 16, 1-13

Abstract: We aimed to explore the reliability and validity of viral anxiety rating scales (developed for the general population) among healthcare workers. In addition, we compared the psychometric properties of rating scales in accordance with the Generalized Anxiety Scale-7 items (GAD-7) during this COVID-19 pandemic. The viral anxiety of 330 healthcare workers was measured with Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics—9 items (SAVE-9), SAVE-6, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), and COVID-19 Anxiety Scale (CAS-7). Factor analyses, item response theory, and Rasch model analyses were conducted to confirm the construct validities of the scales and compare the psychometric properties of rating scales. The receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis examined the cutoff scores of rating scales in accordance with a mild degree of generalized anxiety. The SAVE-9, SAVE-6, CAS, FCV-19S, and CAS-7 scales showed good reliability of internal consistency among healthcare workers. Their construct validity and convergent validity of each scale were similarly good. Furthermore, in comparing the psychometric properties of rating scales, we observed that the CAS scale was the most discriminating and difficult among the scales. The CAS and FCV-19S provided more information and were more efficient than the SAVE-9, SAVE-6, and CAS-7 scales when they were used to measure healthcare workers’ viral anxiety. Viral anxiety rating scales can be applied to healthcare workers with good reliability and validity.

Keywords: COVID-19; anxiety; stress; validation; SAVE-9 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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