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

Abstract

The main aim of the study was to assess the factorial structure of the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS). The study population comprised 199 patients referred to cardiological out-patient investigation because of chest pain. The factor analysis revealed three factors of the IAS. Accordingly, we found three subscales, interpreted as health anxiety (HA), illness behavior (IB), and health habits (HH). The internal consistency of the subscales, measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficient, were 0.92, 0.80, and 0.49, respectively. The HA and IB scores were significantly intercorrelated (r = 0.39, p < 0.001), but HH was not significantly correlated with either HA or IB. The HA and IB subscales discriminated between patients with and without panic disorder. The results support previous findings, namely that the IAS comprise two subscales with psychometrically sound properties. Correlational analysis indicated validity of the two subscales. Further studies are needed to confirm the validity.