The Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 Items (SAVE-6) Scale: A New Instrument for Assessing the Anxiety Response of General Population to the Viral Epidemic During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The general population has reported experiencing anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study explored the validity and utility of the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items (SAVE-6) scale for measuring the anxiety response of the general population to the viral epidemic. About 1,009 respondents participated in an online survey. Of these, 501 (49.7%) participants were rated as having at least a mild degree of anxiety response to the viral epidemic (SAVE-6 score ≥ 15), while 90 (8.9%) and 69 (6.8%) participants were rated as having moderate degree of depression and anxiety, respectively. The SAVE-6 scale showed a good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.815). Parallel analysis suggested a one-factor structure for the measure. The SAVE-6 scale was found to be a reliable, valid, and useful brief measure that can be applied to the general population.

Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 for Medical Students: Psychometric Properties of the Anxiety Measure for the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…", due to the high proportion of the responses of "never" (45.8%) and "rarely" (36.8%). This result was similar to that of our previous study of SAVE-6 applied to the general Korean population (8).…”

“…In this study, a single-structure model of SAVE-6 was confirmed to be valid and in line with previous studies (8,9). However, we observed a relatively low factor loading value of 0.446 for item 1, "Are you afraid that the virus outbreak will continue indefinitely?"…”

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

“…Previously, among healthcare workers, for whom the original SAVE-9 scale was developed, 3 the optimal cut-off score for factor I (anxiety about the viral epidemic) was ≥ 15 points. In other studies, on the Korean version of the SAVE-6 scale applied to the general population, SAVE-6 scores of 15 (sensitivity = 70.7%, specificity = 60.0%) and 17 points (sensitivity = 72.5%, specificity = 71.3%) were consistent with at least mild (≥ 5) and moderate (≥ 10) degrees of anxiety according to the GAD-7 scale, 2 respectively. A more severe pandemic situation in Lebanon may have influenced the lower SAVE-6 scale cut-off score.…”

“…Recently, the Stress and Anxiety to Viral Epidemics-6 items (SAVE-6) scale was developed in South Korea as a tool to assess such anxiety in the general population. 2 The tool is based on factor I (anxiety about the viral epidemic) from the original SAVE-9 scale that was developed for healthcare workers. 3 This study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the SAVE-6 scale as a tool for assessing anxiety in response to the viral epidemic among university students in Lebanon.…”

“…In this sample, we observed that the proportion of “never” responses to item 5 (“Are you worried that others might avoid you even after the infection risk has been minimized?”) was too high (44.6%), although we also observed a high proportion of this response (27.8%) in our previous study conducted in South Korea. 2 The factor loading value of the item 5 was 0.50 ( Table 2 ). Usually over 0.6 was acceptable factor loading value, 12 but item of 0.5 of factor loading value also can be acceptable if the composite reliability over 0.6.…”