Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the fear of COVID-19 scale in Peruvian medical students

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to produce significant emotional consequences at the individual, community, societal, and global levels. This study describes the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in Peruvian medical students. Data were collected by a convenience sampling method, resulting in a total of 1238 medical students from different medical schools in Peru. Our analyses suggest that a two-factor model explains the underlying two-dimensional structure of the FCV-19S. The results indicated that the Spanish version of the FCV-19S scale was found to have adequate psychometric properties.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Renato Alarcón, MD, MPH, professor emeritus of psychiatry and psychology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN; and Honorio Delgado Chair, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú, and to Graciela S. Alarcón, MD, MPH, MACR, for providing expert assistance in the review of the manuscript. We are grateful to Diego Crisol, Luis Villanueva, Andrés Pacherres, Allison Torres, Grace Huertas, Delahnie Calderón, Carlos Noriega, and Erik Astonitas, who helped us with the collection of the sample.