FACTORIAL DIMENSIONS AND CORRELATES OF BLOOD, INJURY, INJECTION AND RELATED MEDICAL FEARS - CROSS-VALIDATION OF THE MEDICAL FEAR SURVEY

The Medical Fear Survey (MFS) and its companion scale, the Medical Avo idance Survey (MAS) were factor analyzed and the factor analysis was c ross validated in sample of 934 participants. Seven reliable factors w ere derived from the MFS which cover the domain of blood, injury, and injection fears and phobias. These factors were entered into a discrim inate analysis to predict blood injury-related fainting. The single fa ctor, ''fear of injections and blood draws'' accounted for the majorit y of the MFS prediction of fainting, correctly classifying 72% of the fainters and 47% of non-fainters. The factors were examined in composi te and individually in relation to gender and fainting. Overall, femal es and fainters scored significantly higher on the MFS although there was some variability. Implications for assessment and conceptualizatio n of blood, injury, injection fears and phobias are discussed.