PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF A BRIEF SELF-REPORT TYPE-A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR USE IN PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE

Objective - To develop a short and easily used self-report measure of Type A behaviour (Simplified Type A Questionnaire=STAQ) and to examine its capacity to predict Type A behaviour as assessed by more time-con suming measures. Design - A Videotaped Structured Interview (VSI) and a self-report measure, previously validated in Sweden, were used as co mparison instruments to the STAQ.Setting - Primary health care. Patien ts - 206 (81 men and 125 women) aged 17-75 years attending a health ce ntre during one year. Main outcome measures - The reliability, measure d by Cronbach's alpha and split-half correlation. The specificity and sensitivity of the STAQ. The correlation between the STAQ and the two other diagnostic measures. Results - The reliability of the STAQ was 0 .70 and 0.75, respectively. The specificity was 83% and the sensitivit y 75%. The correlation between the STAQ and the VSI was 0.45. The corr elation between the STAQ and the previously validated self-report was 0.61. Conclusions - The STAQ has good psychometric properties and, in comparison with other diagnostic measurement instruments in medical se rvice, it has an acceptable discrimination capacity.