Rizzo Amelia, Mautone Aurora, Sitibondo Aldo, Nucera Gabriella, Tarchi Livio, Khabbache Hicham, Ait Ali Driss, Ouazizi Khalid, Szarpak Łukasz, Pruc Michal, Yıldırım Murat, Chirico Francesco
Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychological, Educational, and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Messina, 98122 Messina, Italy.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2024 Jul 5;14(7):1953-1968. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe14070130.
The Visceral Sensitivity Index (VSI) represents a significant advancement in the assessment of gastrointestinal-specific anxiety among patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)-such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. However, an Italian version of the instrument is not yet available for the Italian-speaking population. This study utilized a national sample of 500 individuals divided into four groups: (a) patients with Crohn's disease, (b) patients with ulcerative colitis, (c) patients with IBS, and (d) healthy controls (individuals without any diagnoses) to test the validity and reliability of the Italian VSI. Using back-translation methodology to ensure translation fidelity, this research applied a questionnaire and the VSI through an online format to 500 participants. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) revealed that the Italian VSI had excellent psychometric properties, demonstrating high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.949) and construct validity. The scale proved sensitive in detecting significant differences in visceral sensitivity among groups, highlighting its utility as a clinical and research assessment tool. Specifically, the Italian VSI exhibited a unidimensional factorial structure and maintained a strong correlation with interoceptive awareness, type of disease, and gastrointestinal symptom severity, confirming its role in enhancing the understanding and management of IBD and IBS in Italy.
内脏敏感性指数（VSI）代表了在评估肠易激综合征（IBS）和慢性炎症性肠病（IBD）（如溃疡性结肠炎和克罗恩病）患者胃肠道特异性焦虑方面的重大进展。然而，该工具的意大利语版本尚未提供给讲意大利语的人群。本研究使用了一个由500人组成的全国样本，分为四组：（a）克罗恩病患者，（b）溃疡性结肠炎患者，（c）IBS患者，以及（d）健康对照者（未被诊断出任何疾病的个体），以测试意大利语VSI的有效性和可靠性。本研究采用回译方法以确保翻译准确性，通过在线形式向500名参与者发放问卷和VSI。验证性因子分析（CFA）表明，意大利语VSI具有出色的心理测量特性，显示出高内部一致性（克朗巴哈α系数=0.949）和结构效度。该量表在检测各组间内脏敏感性的显著差异方面被证明是敏感的，突出了其作为临床和研究评估工具的效用。具体而言，意大利语VSI呈现出单维因子结构，并与内感受性觉知、疾病类型和胃肠道症状严重程度保持着强相关性，证实了其在增进对意大利IBD和IBS的理解及管理方面的作用。
