The Spanish validation of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric properties and clinical utility

Abstract

Background/Objective The Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) is a widely used self-report instrument to evaluate health anxiety. To assess the SHAI s factor structure, psychometric properties, and accuracy in differentiating Spanish non-clinical individuals from patients with severe health anxiety or hypochondriasis. Method A total of 342 community participants (61.6% women; Mage = 34.60, SD = 14.91) and 31 hypochondriacal patients (51.6% women; Mage = 32.74, SD = 9.69) completed the SHAI and other self-reports assessing symptoms of hypochondriasis, depression, anxiety sensitivity, worry, and obsessive-compulsive. Results The original two-factor structure was selected as the best structure, based on its parsimony and empirical support (Factor 1: Illness likelihood; Factor 2: Negative consequences of illness). Moreover, the Spanish version of the SHAI demonstrated good construct and concurrent and discriminant validity, and internal consistency. A cutoff of 40.5 (total score) accurately distinguished non-clinical individuals from patients with severe health anxiety or hypochondriasis. Conclusions The SHAI is an adequate screening instrument to measure health anxiety in Spanish-speaking community adults.