Initial development of the chest pain conception questionnaire

Abstract

BackgroundEven 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). ObjectivesThe purpose of this four-step process was to develop an instrument to measure the lay public's conceptions of chest pain related to ACS. MethodsThe 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. ResultsThe 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. ConclusionsThis paper provides preliminary evidence of the CPCQ's validity.