Inventory-Description

The Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI-18) is a tool designed to assess health anxiety, also known as illness anxiety disorder. It measures the level of concern an individual has about their health and related symptoms. The HAI was created to capture the extent of worry about health, whether or not the individual has existing medical conditions.

Data Analysis and Usage

Data Analysis: Analyzing data from the HAI involves collecting responses from participants and processing them to evaluate the level of health anxiety.
Data Collection: Participants answer questions related to their health anxiety, focusing on symptoms and behaviors associated with worry about health.
Score Calculation: Responses are scored, and the scores are calculated to indicate the severity of health anxiety.
Score Analysis: Analysis involves assessing the overall anxiety level and categorizing the levels of anxiety.
Data Usage: The HAI is used in clinical settings to assess health anxiety in patients who exhibit symptoms of illness anxiety disorder. The tool helps healthcare professionals better understand patients’ concerns and guide appropriate therapeutic interventions.

Purpose

The primary goal of the HAI is to provide a reliable method for assessing the level of health anxiety, facilitating the diagnosis of illness anxiety disorder. It helps healthcare providers understand patients’ concerns and plan suitable treatment approaches.

Scoring

Scoring of the HAI involves evaluating its reliability and validity:
Internal Consistency: The reliability of the HAI is assessed using Cronbach’s alpha to ensure that the items are consistent and measure the same dimension of health anxiety.
Validity: This involves confirming that the HAI effectively measures health anxiety symptoms by comparing it with other scales and clinical assessments.

References

Salkovskis, P. M., Rimes, K., Warwick, H. M. C., & Clark, D. M. (2002). The Health Anxiety Inventory: Development and validation of scales for the measurement of health anxiety and hypochondriasis. Psychological Medicine, 32(5), 843-853.
Salkovskis, P. M. (1991). The importance of behaviour in the maintenance of health anxiety: A review and some theoretical considerations. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 29(6), 367-380.
Warwick, H. M. C., & Salkovskis, P. M. (1990). Health Anxiety Inventory.