Design of Fear and Anxiety of COVID-19 Assessment Tool in Spanish Adult Population

Abstract

The aim of this study was to develop a specific scale to measure anxiety and fear levels in the general Spanish population. For this, a transcultural adaptation to Spanish of the fear of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) scale, in its original version of 10 items, was carried out. Then, the Anxiety and Fear of COVID-19 Assessment Scale (AMICO, for its acronym in Spanish) was designed by translating the tool and Delphi technique into three rounds. Ten experts participated voluntarily, and inter-observer match rates and the reliability study of the designed scale were calculated. A pilot study was carried out with the final version of the scale for the validity and reliability study. The instrument did not raise problems in semantic and cultural terms during the first and second rounds of the translation process, with an overall weighted Kappa value of 0.9. In the third round, eight new items were designed and consensual, obtaining a weighted overall value of 0.89. The pilot study sample was made up of 445 subjects, of which 60.3% were women with a mean age of 46.2 years. The final version consisted of 16 items, 2 factors, and a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.92. The AMICO scale was developed to assess the level of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 and proved to be valid and reliable for its use in the adult Spanish population.