title: Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Health Anxiety Inventory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health anxiety is seen in the clinical presentation of both somatoform disorders, especially hypochondriasis and anxiety disorders. In this study, we aimed to perform the reliability and validity analyses of the Turkish version of the Health Anxiety Inventory which is used in the assessment of health anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  Translation and back-translation of the Health Anxiety Inventory was done. Study groups consisted of in- or out-patients with somatoform disorder (n=65), panic disorder (n=55), major depressive disorder (n=22), and healthy volunteers (n=114). In the assessment, beside the Health Anxiety Inventory, the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Somatosensory Amplification Scale and the Trait Anxiety Inventory were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In reliability analyses, Cronbach's alpha internal consistency coefficient was 0.918 and item-total score correlation coefficients were between 0.405 and 0.769. Test-retest correlation coefficient was r=0.572. In construct validity, two factors that representing 54.5 percent of the total variance were obtained and they represented sensitivity to somatic symptoms and anxiety towards organic diseases. In concurrent validity, it had moderate to good correlation with the other study scales. In the comparison of study groups, the groups of somatoform disorder and anxiety disorder had significantly higher level of health anxiety than the groups with major depressive disorder and of healthy controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Turkish version of the Health Anxiety Inventory can be reliably and validly used both in clinical practice and in research.
authors.affiliation: Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ömer
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Aydemir
authors.affiliation: Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: İsmet
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Kirpinar
authors.affiliation: Atatürk University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Tülay
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sati
authors.affiliation: Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Burak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uykur
authors.affiliation: Celal Bayar University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cengiz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cengisiz
keywords: Health Anxiety İnventory; reliability; validity