Validation of a Briefer Anxiety Screening Tool for Use in Pediatric Cardiology Clinics

Central Illustration. Concurrent Validity of a Rapid Anxiety Screening Tool for Pediatric Cardiology Clinics Anxiety is common among pediatric cardiology patients yet is underidentified partially due to time constraints and lengthy assessments. The study evaluated the concurrent validity of PROMIS-Anx compared with SCARED. Findings support the use of a brief screening approach to potentially enable earlier anxiety identification and referral during routine cardiology care. PROMIS-Anx = Pediatric-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Pediatric GenPop v3.0; SCARED = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders.

Figure 1. Agreement Between SCARED and PROMIS-Anx Scores Spearman correlation coefficients (rs) between SCARED and PROMIS-Anx scores as completed by (A) the child and (B)the caregiver. Correlation coefficients and corresponding P values are shown for each panel. PROMIS-Anx = Pediatric-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Pediatric GenPop v3.0; SCARED = Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders.

Figure 2. Child-Caregiver Agreement in Anxiety Scores Spearman correlation coefficients (rs) between child and (A) caregiver PROMIS-Anx scores and (B) SCARED scores. Correlation coefficients and corresponding P values are shown for each panel.

Figure 3. PROMIS-Anx Scores by Clinically Significant Anxiety PROMIS-Anx total scores compared to clinically significant SCARED scores (≥25) as completed by the (A) children and (B) caregivers. The median PROMIS-Anx scores are displayed as red lines with corresponding P values. Abbreviations as in Figure 1.