Adaptation and psychometric evaluation of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale in the general Colombian population

Psychometric Properties of an Instrument to Assess the Fear of COVID-19 in a Sample in Argentina: a Mixed Approach

The FCV-19S was the first instrument designed to assess the severity of fear related to COVID-19 and has already been validated in many languages. The objective of this study was to evaluate the homogeneity and construct validity of the 5-item version of the FCV19S, using an online questionnaire in 599 people. The participants' age ranged from 18 to 65 years. Age, gender, marital status, educational level, employment status, and socioeconomic status were analyzed. In the evaluation process we assessed interitem correlation, item rest-correlation, confirmatory factor analysis: Root Mean Square Error of Approximation, Comparative Fix Index, Tucker-Lewis Index; internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega), and the Rasch model was assessed for learning more about the psychometric properties of the scale, which allows a detailed knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of a scale. The FCV-5S has adequate psychometric indicators from the perspective of the Classical Theory of Items. The major limitations were using a self-reported measure and having a convenience sample not necessarily representative of the general population of Argentina.

Evaluating the Practice of Preventive Behaviors and the Fear of COVID-19 among Dentists in Oradea Metropolitan Area after the First Wave of Pandemic; a Cross-Sectional Study

Dental clinics were suspected to be a hotspot for nosocomial transmission of COVID-19 due to the easy spread of the virus. The study investigated the preventive behaviors applied in dentistry settings and the level of fear of COVID-19 infection among dentists. A total of 83 respondents (34.94% male and 63.86% female) were included in the research. Sociodemographic data were collected, together with new institutional and personal rules regarding preventive behaviors. Fear of COVID-19 Scale was used to measure the fear of infection. Data was analyzed using SPSS (v.25, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). During the first seven months of confinement, 3.9% of dentists were confirmed with COVID-19 and one fourth treated confirmed positive patients. A quarter of the doctors declared that they had periods when they lived away from home being afraid of transmitting the disease to their family members, and significant data were found in doctors being parents. The closure of dental offices had a negative impact on the financial situation of dentists, especially on those working in rural area offices. Many doctors encountered difficulties in purchasing protective suits and medical supplies, and more than half of the respondents (65.1%, N = 54) focused on the quality of protective suits when purchasing them. More than half of the dentists were trained how to use them. The score for fear of COVID 19 was similar to dentists from other countries. Respondents with chronic diseases were more prone to show higher level of anxiety when following the news and stories related to COVID-19 on TV, media, or social networks. One third of dentists mentioned that they had treated exclusively specific urgent dental problems since the onset of the pandemic and more than 13.3% declared that they refused to provide medical assistance to some specific pathologies because of the fear of infection. The results reflect new challenges and rules adopted by dentists in order to diminish the risk of infection and the impact of pandemic considering their psychological, familial, and financial context. Policymakers and professional associations around may benefit from these findings while formulating guidelines to support dentists during COVID-19 or any future pandemics.

Psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the fear of COVID-19 scale in Peruvian medical students

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to produce significant emotional consequences at the individual, community, societal, and global levels. This study describes the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) in Peruvian medical students. Data were collected by a convenience sampling method, resulting in a total of 1238 medical students from different medical schools in Peru. Our analyses suggest that a two-factor model explains the underlying two-dimensional structure of the FCV-19S. The results indicated that the Spanish version of the FCV-19S scale was found to have adequate psychometric properties.

The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and mental health problems: A meta-analysis

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused physical and mental health problems among individuals around the world. Recent studies have reported various mental health problems among both health-care workers and the general population. In this meta-analysis, evidence is provided concerning the relationships between the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. The fear of COVID-19 scale: Development and initial validation. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction] - the most widely used, translated, and validated scale - and mental health problems including, anxiety, stress, depression, distress, post-traumatic stress, and sleep problems among the general population. We searched for relevant studies on Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, and ERIC databases and conducted a meta-analysis with selected studies in accordance with the inclusion criteria. A total of 33 studies met the inclusion criteria. The results demonstrated that fear of COVID-19 was strongly related to anxiety (r = 0.55, n = 19,578), traumatic stress (r = 0.54, n = 8,752), distress (r = 0.53, n = 11,785) as well as being moderately related to stress (r = 0.47, n = 4,340) and depression (r = 0.38, n = 23,835). The correlation with insomnia (r = 0.27, n = 2,114) was modest. These results demonstrate that fear of COVID-19 is associated a wide range of mental health problems among the general population.