Psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the anxiety inventory for respiratory disease in patients with COPD

Abstract

Purpose

The Anxiety Inventory for Respiratory Disease (AIR) is a reliable and valid scale for examining the anxiety in patients with COPD. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and translate the original AIR scale into the Arabic language and to examine its reliability and validity in Arab patients with COPD.

Material and Methods

This was a validation study conducted on 70 Arabic patients with COPD. The AIR-A and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were completed on the first assessment. After two weeks, 55 patients completed the AIR-A scale again. The reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s α and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC_2,1). Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to measure the structural validity. The construct validity was also explored.

Results

The AIR-A questionnaire had a Cronbach’s α of 0.91 and ICC_2,1 of 0.86. The EFA revealed that the AIR-A was unidimensional. The CFA showed the single-factor model required minor modifications to reach the best fit. The AIR-A was correlated with the HADS- anxiety (r = 0.89, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The Arabic version of AIR scale is reliable, and valid for assessing the anxiety disorder in Arabic speaking patients with COPD worldwide.

Implications for Practice

• The Arabic version of AIR will be useful for examining anxiety in Arabic speaking patients with COPD worldwide.

• The Arabic version of AIR will help clinicians to monitor the effect of interventions in Arabic speaking patients with COPD who suffer from anxiety.

• The Arabic version of AIR assess only the anxiety.

Keywords:

• Anxiety
• COPD
• Arabic anxiety inventory for respiratory disease
• reliability
• validity

Acknowledgement

The author is thankful to the Deanship of Scientific Research, College of Applied Medical Sciences Research Center at King Saud University for funding this research.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no declarations of interest.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, AB, upon reasonable request.