The Journal of Pain | 2021
Development and Initial Validation of the Menstrual Sensitivity Index
Abstract
The Anxiety Sensitivity Index is a widely-used measure to assess anxiety sensitivity (i.e., the fear of anxiety and its associated symptoms). More recently, researchers have developed disease-specific measures assessing sensitivity to specific symptoms. To assess sensitivity to menstrual symptoms, we developed and evaluated the reliability and initial validity of the Menstrual Sensitivity Index (MSI), a modification of the Visceral Sensitivity Index. The MSI consists of 10 items rated on a 6-point Likert scale from 1 (“strongly agree”) to 6 (“strongly disagree”). Items assess respondents’ menstrual symptom-specific anxiety (e.g., fear and anxiety induced by menstrual pain, the thought that menstrual pain is a sign of other problems, etc.). Items are reverse scored and re-coded on a 0 to 5 scale. Total scores are calculated by summing all item responses; higher scores indicate more severe menstrual-specific anxiety. Participants included 1,160 women ages 18-55 years (mean=34.6, SD=9.5) who completed an online survey. Average menstrual pain was rated on a 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain possible) Numeric Rating Scale; enrollment was stratified such that 14.8% of participants rated their menstrual pain as 0-2, 59.7% rated 3-7, and 25.4% rated 8-10. All participants had self-reported regular menstrual cycles over the previous 12 months. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach s alpha, and initial validity was assessed using Pearson bivariate correlations. The MSI demonstrated excellent internal consistency (alpha=0.942). Scores were positively correlated with measures of average menstrual pain, menstrual symptoms, non-menstrual bodily pain, anxiety sensitivity, and pain catastrophizing (R s from 0.39-0.65; all p s