Study published: Evaluation of instrument to assess cardiac anxiety

Cardiac anxiety (CA) is the aspects of anxiety related to fear of heart malfunctioning, for example, exaggerated attention to the heart rate or avoidance of activities that would lead to a higher heart rate. It is common that people who have experienced a myocardial infarction (MI) also experience CA, which, in its turn, is associated with an increased risk for a recurrent cardiac event. The most common way to measure CA is through CAQ.

This study aims to test and evaluate different divisions of sub-categories of the questionnaire that have been proposed through previous research. The researchers also sought to test the reliability and validity of a Swedish translation of the questionnaire. 930 patients who have experienced an MI were asked to fill in the CAQ. The data were analysed using factor analysis.

The researchers found that the Swedish translation of the questionnaire maintains similar qualities as the original and that the questionnaire, with a few modifications, is a suitable instrument to assess cardiac anxiety among Swedish patients.

Read the article ’The factor structure of the cardiac anxiety questionnaire, and validation in a post‑MI population’. It is written by Philip Leissner, Claes Held, Elisabet Rondung, and Erik Olsson.