Psychometric properties of Internet-administered measures of health anxiety: an investigation of the Health Anxiety Inventory, the Illness Attitude Scales, and the Whiteley Index.
BACKGROUND
The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), the Illness Attitude Scales (IAS), and the Whiteley Index (WI) are three of the most widely used health anxiety measures, but their psychometric properties have not been investigated when administered via the Internet.


METHODS
We investigated the three instruments' test-retest reliability, internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity and sensitivity to change using one sample (n=111) of participants with severe health anxiety and one sample of healthy controls (n=92).


RESULTS
The HAI, IAS, and WI showed high test-retest reliability (rs≥.80), good convergent, and discriminant validity and were sensitive to detect change. The HAI and IAS (αs≥.85), but not the WI (αs≤.60) demonstrated high internal consistency.


CONCLUSIONS
The HAI, IAS, and WI have good psychometric properties, except for the low internal consistency of WI, when used as Internet-administered measures of health anxiety. Using these measures over the Internet offers highly important advantages such as increased ease of administration, reduced attrition, and cost-efficient treatment evaluation.
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden. Electronic address: kire.hedman@ki.se.
Erik
E
Hedman
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
Brjánn
B
Ljótsson
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden; Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
Erik
E
Andersson
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden; Stockholm University, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Gerhard
G
Andersson
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
Nils
N
Lindefors
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
Christian
C
Rück
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden.
Erland
E
Axelsson
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden; Linköping University, Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping, Sweden; Stockholm University, Stress Research Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mats
M
Lekander
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006998:Hypochondriasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
Health anxiety; Internet; Measurement; Psychometrics