Not always that EASI: Validating the Russian version of the epilepsy anxiety survey instrument and its brief counterpart

• Published in: Epilepsy & behavior 2022-08, Vol.133, p.108801-108801, Article 108801
• Main Authors: Zinchuk, Mikhail, Kustov, Georgii, Pashnin, Evgenii, Gersamia, Anna, Rider, Flora, Voinova, Nadezhda, Popova, Sophia, Sviatskaia, Ekaterina, Yakovlev, Alexander, Guekht, Alla
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1525-5050; 1525-5069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.108801

OBJECTIVETo develop a Russian version of The Epilepsy Anxiety Survey Instrument (EASI) and assess its psychometric properties in a Russian sample of patients with epilepsy (PWE). To compare the brief version of EASI with the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) - the most common tool for a rapid anxiety screening. METHODSThe study sample consisted of 181 consecutive Russian-speaking PWE. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview was used as a gold standard for diagnosing anxiety disorders. All patients completed the set of questionnaires - the Russian version of the GAD-7, The Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E), and the EASI. Internal reliability of the EASI and brEASI, convergent and divergent validity of the brEASI with the GAD-7 and the NDDI-E, and factor structure assessment were performed. RESULTSAmong 33.7% of patients with epilepsy diagnosed with any anxiety disorder, 16% had panic disorder, 10.5% had agoraphobia, 8.3% had social anxiety disorder, 21.0% had generalized anxiety disorder, and 13.3% had several comorbid anxiety disorders. The EASI factor structure differed from the original, revealing an additional factor with two items. Nevertheless, the brief version (brEASI) showed excellent screening properties - the AUC to detect any anxiety disorder was 0.916 with the optimal cutoff point > 7 points. CONCLUSIONThe brEASI performed better than the GAD-7 in our sample and, therefore, may be considered a first-line screening tool for anxiety disorders in PWE.