Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI)-Polish version: evaluation of psychometric properties and factor structure

Objectives: The aim of the study was to adapt the English language version of the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) developed by Salkovskis et al. to the Polish language and to investigate its psychometric properties and factor structure in clinical and non-clinical samples. Method: A total of 296 individuals participated in the study: 172 in the clinical sample (46% females and 54% males; mean age: 57.29 +/- 13.01 years) and 124 in the non-clinical sample (51% females and 49% males; mean age: 54.45 +/- 13.63). They completed the Polish language version of an 18-item SHAI and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A). To assess psychometric properties, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, item-total statistics, construct and convergent validity, an analysis of ROC curves was performed. Results: Both samples had excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's a 0.91 and 0.92) and test-retest reliability (r=0.91 and r=0.94). Correlational analysis revealed a significant relationship of anxiety to SHAI total score and to each of the two SHAI subscales. Factor analysis revealed a two-factors solution, which accounted for 48% and 49% of the variance. A cut-off score of 20 was optimal for detecting a severe form of health anxiety in the clinical and non-clinical sample, providing the best balance between specificity and sensitivity. Discussion: Despite the widespread application of SHAI, a Polish language version has not yet been created. The psychometric properties of the scale confirmed a high reliability and accuracy of the proposed solutions. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that the SHAI-Polish version is a reliable and valid instrument for detecting health anxiety.