Relationship between two anxiety instruments in patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Research
• Critical Care Medicine
• Psychometric Validation

Background:

• Anxiety is prevalent in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilatory support.
• Selecting anxiety measurement tools with low participant burden is crucial for nurse-researchers.
• Visual analog scales (VAS) may reduce burden but require validation in this specific patient group.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the relationship between the Visual Analog Scale-Anxiety (VAS-A) and the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (SAI).
• To assess the validity of VAS-A in patients receiving mechanical ventilatory support.
• To offer guidance to nurse-researchers on selecting anxiety measurement instruments.

Main Methods:

• A correlational design was employed.
• Two hundred critically ill patients on mechanical ventilatory support participated.
• Anxiety levels were measured using the Spielberger State Anxiety Inventory (SAI) and the Visual Analog Scale-Anxiety (VAS-A).

Main Results:

• The VAS-A demonstrated no missing data, with 100% completion.
• Eight participants could not complete the Spielberger SAI.
• A significant positive correlation (r = 0.50, P = 0.01) was found between VAS-A and SAI scores.

Conclusions:

• The VAS-A is a less burdensome and valid instrument for measuring anxiety in patients on mechanical ventilatory support.
• The study supports the use of VAS-A, offering initial validation for this population.
• Researchers should prioritize balancing instrument reliability and validity with participant burden, especially for patients with communication or energy limitations.