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The Illness Attitude Scales in chest pain patients: a study of psychometric properties

T Dammen1, S Friis, O Ekeberg

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. toril.dammen@psykiatri.uio.no

Journal of Psychosomatic Research
|May 26, 1999
PubMed

Insights

This study analyzed the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS) in 199 cardiac patients, revealing three factors: health anxiety (HA), illness behavior (IB), and health habits (HH). The HA and IB subscales showed strong psychometric properties and discriminated between patients with and without panic disorder.

Area of Science:

  • Psychological assessment
  • Medical psychology
  • Psychometrics

Background:

  • The Illness Attitude Scales (IAS) are used to assess patient attitudes towards illness.
  • Understanding the factorial structure of the IAS is crucial for accurate interpretation of patient responses.
  • Previous research suggests the IAS may comprise distinct underlying dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the factorial structure of the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS).
  • To evaluate the psychometric properties and validity of the IAS subscales in a cardiological patient population.

Main Methods:

  • Factor analysis was performed on data from 199 patients undergoing cardiological investigation for chest pain.
  • Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha.
  • Correlational analysis and group comparisons were used to examine validity.

Main Results:

  • Factor analysis identified three factors: health anxiety (HA), illness behavior (IB), and health habits (HH).
  • Internal consistency was high for HA (0.92) and IB (0.80), but lower for HH (0.49).
  • HA and IB were significantly correlated (r=0.39) and differentiated patients with/without panic disorder, supporting their validity.

Conclusions:

  • The IAS appears to comprise two psychometrically sound subscales: health anxiety and illness behavior.
  • The health habits subscale requires further investigation to confirm its validity.
  • The findings support the use of the HA and IB subscales in clinical and research settings.

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