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Confirming the factor structure and improving the screening function of the Medical Fear Survey - short in a

Béla Birkás1, Árpád Csathó1, Szidalisz Teleki2

  • 1Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Medical School, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.

Anxiety, Stress, and Coping
|April 15, 2021
PubMed

Insights

The Medical Fear Survey-short (MFS-short) effectively screens for medical fears in adults, showing good validity and reliability across different ages and genders. This tool helps assess the severity of medical anxieties.

Area of Science:

  • Psychological Assessment
  • Medical Psychology
  • Health Psychology

Background:

  • Medical fears are common and can impact healthcare engagement.
  • Existing measures may not adequately capture the nuances of medical-related anxieties.
  • The Medical Fear Survey (MFS) was developed to address these fears across multiple dimensions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the factor structure and validity of a short version of the MFS (MFS-short) in a Hungarian sample.
  • To investigate potential age and gender differences in medical fears using the MFS-short.
  • To examine the screening utility of the MFS-short via discriminant analysis.

Main Methods:

  • A large sample of 2631 Hungarian adults (558 men, 2067 women) completed the MFS-short.
  • Factor analysis was used to assess the scale's structure.
  • Discriminant analysis evaluated the screening power of the MFS-short subscales.

Main Results:

  • The MFS-short demonstrated strong construct and convergent validity and scale reliability.
  • A five-factor structure was confirmed for the MFS-short.
  • Four subscales showed excellent discriminatory power, with one exhibiting acceptable power for screening medical fears.

Conclusions:

  • The MFS-short is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing medical fears.
  • It can be utilized as a screening measure, accounting for gender and age variations.
  • Findings support its application in clinical and research settings for understanding medical anxieties.
Keywords:
Medical fearsage normsgender differencesscreening function

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