Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire: a psychometric evaluation.
OBJECTIVE
To study the psychometric properties of the Diabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-Testing Questionnaire (D-FISQ).


METHODS
Two groups of patients were studied. Sample A consisted of 252 insulin-treated diabetes patients. Sample B incorporated 24 insulin-treated patients with high scores (> or = 95th percentile) on the D-FISQ. Test-retest correlations were assessed in both samples. Discriminant and convergent validity of the D-FISQ were assessed with questionnaires concerning fear of hypoglycemia, trait anxiety, and fear of bodily injury, illness, or death. To evaluate criterion-related validity, sample B participated in a behavioral avoidance test (BAT), in which the current level of avoidance of either self-injecting or self-testing was determined. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to study whether 2 factors (fear of self-injecting [FSI] and fear of self-testing [FST]) could be detected.


RESULTS
Test-retest correlations ranged from 0.50 to 0.68 (P < 0.001). Correlations between D-FISQ and fear of hypoglycemia, trait anxiety, and fear of bodily injury, illness, or death ranged from 0.28 to 0.45 (P < 0.001). Patients who refused to do a BAT for self-injecting or self-testing had higher scores on FSI (P = 0.095) and FST (P = 0.01). EFA yielded 2 separate factors, FSI and FST.


CONCLUSIONS
Results from this study support reliability and validity of the D-FISQ, a self-report instrument that can be used for both clinical and research purposes.
Mollema
E D
ED
Institute for Research in Extramural Medicine (EMGO-Institute), Department of Medical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. ed.mollema.emgo@med.vu.nl
Snoek
F J
FJ
Pouwer
F
F
Heine
R J
RJ
van der Ploeg
H M
HM
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety; D001293:Attitude to Death; D015190:Blood Glucose Self-Monitoring / Q000523:psychology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007003:Hypoglycemia / Q000523:psychology; D007275:Injections, Intravenous / Q000523:psychology*; D007328:Insulin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D007328:Insulin