Psychometric Properties of the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) Among Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

Abstract

Research conducted with the terminally ill population in relation to death anxiety is rare and mostly outdated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the widely used Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) on a sample of terminal cancer patients. Additionally, validation studies of the DAS have exclusively used traditional statistical methods for analysis. The current study utilized an item response theory technique (IRT), namely the Rasch Rating Scale model for data analysis. The methodology employed may be useful for other researchers conducting validation studies from an IRT perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• Rasch measurement
• psychometrics
• validation study
• death anxiety
• cancer