Initial development of the chest pain conception questionnaire

• Published in: Heart & lung Vol. 61; pp. 98 - 106
• Main Authors: Blakeman, John R., Eckhardt, Ann L., Kim, MyoungJin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2023
• Subjects: Acute coronary syndrome; Acute Coronary Syndrome - complications; Acute Coronary Syndrome - diagnosis; Chest pain; Chest Pain - diagnosis; Chest Pain - etiology; Heart attack; Humans; Instrument; Myocardial Infarction; Psychometrics - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Signs and symptoms; Surveys and Questionnaires; Myocardial infarction; Instrument; Signs and symptoms; Acute coronary syndrome; Heart attack; Chest pain
• ISSN: 0147-9563; 1527-3288
• DOI: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2023.05.006

•This questionnaire measures the lay public’s conceptions of chest pain quality, timing, intensity, and distress.•The questionnaire is written at the 7th grade level and is completed in about 10 min, including demographic questions.•The scale-level content validity index was 0.99. Factor analysis also supported initial construct validity. Even though “chest pain” is often highlighted as a key heart attack symptom for which individuals should seek care, little is known about the ways that the lay public conceives of chest pain related to acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The purpose of this four-step process was to develop an instrument to measure the lay public's conceptions of chest pain related to ACS. The Chest Pain Conception Questionnaire (CPCQ) was drafted based on the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms and findings from the published literature. We then leveraged two rounds of expert feedback to calculate item-level and scale-level content validity indices. Two rounds of pilot testing (N = 51 and N = 300) were conducted with members of the target population. Psychometric testing was also conducted, including exploratory factor analysis. The multi-step development process resulted in an instrument that is comprised of 23 items (2 open-ended questions, 13 short scenarios with Likert-type ratings, and 8 multiple-choice questions) and written at a 7th grade level. The scale-level content validity index was 0.99. Exploratory factor analysis findings also supported construct validity. This paper provides preliminary evidence of the CPCQ's validity.