Assessing Anxiety and its correlates in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

INTRODUCTION: We evaluated: i) psychometric properties of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y (STAI Form Y); ii) clinical correlates of state and trait anxiety; iii) associations of anxiety with Quality of Life (QoL) dimensions. METHODS: We assessed 159 patients with ALS on STAI Form Y and on tests and questionnaires for depression, apathy, QoL, and cognitive abilities. RESULTS: Clinically diagnosed anxiety (by Mini International Neuropsychiatric Inventory) occurred in 30 (19%) patients. STAI Form Y fitted a two-factor structure and showed good psychometric properties. State and trait anxiety were weakly associated with female sex, bulbar functional decay, and cognitive decline in language and memory; trait anxiety was associated with lower educational attainment and poorer scores on visuospatial tasks. State and trait anxiety were associated with poorer physical and psychosocial QoL dimensions. DISCUSSION: Anxiety is tightly associated with QoL in ALS, and can be reliably assessed by STAI Form Y.