DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE DIABETES FEAR OF INJECTING AND SELF-TESTING QUESTIONNAIRE (D-FISQ) - FIRST FINDINGS

To quantify the degree of fear of self-injecting insulin and self-test ing of blood glucose in adult insulin-treated diabetic patients, the D iabetes Fear of Injecting and Self-testing Questionnaire (D-FISQ) was developed. The D-FISQ is a 30-item serf-report questionnaire consistin g of two subscales that measure Fear of Self-injecting (FSI) and Fear of Self-Testing (FST). To test validity and internal consistency, the D-FISQ was administered to a sample of 266 insulin-treated patients (T ype 1 and Type 2); four diagnosed injection phobic insulin-requiring d iabetic patients also completed the D-FISQ. The minimal score was obta ined on the subscales by 62 % (FSI) and 57 % (FST) of the population. The D-FISQ demonstrated high internal consistency, with Cronbach's alp ha s of 0.94 (D-FISQ), 0.94 (FSI), and 0.90 (FST). Spearman rho betwee n fear of self-injecting and fear of self-testing was 0.59 (p < 0.001) , justifying two separate subscales. Construct validity was confirmed by a correlation of 0.44 with Spielbergers Trait Anxiety Inventory (Sp earman rho, p < 0.001). FSI-scores from the injection phobic patients were all greater than or equal to 95th percentile, while three scored greater than or equal to 95 % on FST, indicating discriminative validi ty. Results confirm homogeneity and validity of the D-FISQ and suggest usefulness of this instrument in both clinical practice and research. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.