J Korean Med Sci.  2021 Jun;36(25):e168. 10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e168.

Factorial Validity of the Arabic Version of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 Items (SAVE-6) Scale among the General Population in Lebanon

• Hong Y
• Yoo S
• Mreydem HW
• Abou Ali BT
• Saleh NO
• Hammoudi SF
• Lee J
• Suh S
• Chung S

• KMID: 2516986
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2021.36.e168

Abstract

This study explored the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items (SAVE-6) scale for assessing people's anxiety in response to the viral epidemic in Lebanon. The 406 participants responded voluntarily to the online survey that included the SAVE-6, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) tools. The single-structure SAVE-6 model showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.773). The SAVE-6 scale also showed good convergent validity with the GAD-7 (Spearman's ρ = 0.42, P < 0.001) and PHQ-9 (ρ = 0.38, P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis revealed an Arabic SAVE-6 cut-off score of 12 points (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.753; sensitivity = 62.74%; specificity = 78.26%) for an at least mild degree of anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥ 5). The Arabic version of the SAVE-6 was a reliable, valid, and solely usable scale for measuring the anxiety response of the general population to the viral epidemic.

Keyword

COVID-19; SAVE-6; Anxiety; Arabic

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