A one-item question with a Likert or Visual Analog Scale adequately measured current anxiety

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether a single question with a Likert Scale or a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) response adequately measures current anxiety.

Study design and setting: Consecutive English-speaking adult women attending a dedicated breast clinic in a major Australian city were invited to complete a demographic questionnaire, the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and a single question with a five-point Likert Scale response and a VAS in random order. Only women who completed the STAI were included in analyses.

Results: Four hundred of 497 (80%) eligible women agreed to participate. Both measures were adequate predictors of the STAI score; correlation with STAI was 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73-0.82) for the VAS and 0.75 (95% CI 0.70-0.79) for the Likert Scale. However, 11% of women incorrectly completed the VAS limiting its usefulness.

Conclusion: A single question with either a Likert Scale or VAS response may be an adequate replacement for the STAI. Both measures quickly and easily assess anxiety and may be useful for research purposes when researchers have very limited time or questionnaire space or need to reduce the burden on participants of completing many measures.