Validation of the Italian version of the Injection Phobia Scale - Anxiety and application to blood donors

Anxiety related to medical procedures is pervasive, in particular for those involving needles and blood, such as injections and blood donations. Therefore, assessment and detection of anxiety before and during these procedures is critical for developing timely interventions for the at-risk population, and thereby increasing the panel of potential blood donors. The Injection Phobia Scale-Anxiety (IPS-Anx) was an 18 item questionnaire for estimating anxiety related to blood and needles; however, it had never been used among blood donors. The measures were translated and tested during a pre-pilot phase (Study 1). During Study 2 (n = 344) and 3 (n = 370), the model of measurement of IPS-IT-Anx was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Test-retest stability, convergent validity, and reliability of measures were assessed during Study 4 (n = 243). Finally, the scores from participants in the different studies were pooled (Study 5; n = 957) in order to test whether the factor structure showed multigroup invariance, and to evaluate whether IPS-IT-Anx scores were associated with blood donation. The overall results of the statistical analysis supported a 12-item measurement model comprising the two original dimensions, distal and contact fear, of the IPS-IT-Anx. The findings of the study supported IPS-IT-Anx, suggesting it had excellent psychometric properties and was suitability for each clinical research uses focused on the assessment of blood-injection anxiety.