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. 2014 Mar 21;8(1):10.
doi: 10.1186/1751-0759-8-10.

Gastrointestinal specific anxiety in irritable bowel syndrome: validation of the Japanese version of the visceral sensitivity index for university students

Tatsuo Saigo, Jun Tayama, Toyohiro Hamaguchi, Naoki Nakaya, Tadaaki Tomiie, Peter J Bernick, Motoyori Kanazawa, Jennifer S Labus, Bruce D Naliboff, Susumu Shirabe, Shin Fukudo  1
Affiliations

Gastrointestinal specific anxiety in irritable bowel syndrome: validation of the Japanese version of the visceral sensitivity index for university students

Tatsuo Saigo et al. Biopsychosoc Med. .

Abstract

Objective: The visceral sensitivity index (VSI) is a useful self-report measure of the gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety (GSA) of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Previous research has shown that worsening GSA in IBS patients is related to the severity of GI symptoms, suggesting that GSA is an important endpoint for intervention. However, there is currently no Japanese version of the VSI. We therefore translated the VSI into Japanese (VSI-J) and verified its reliability and validity.

Material and methods: Participants were 349 university students aged 18 and 19 years and recruited from an academic class. We analyzed data from the VSI-J, Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Index (IBS-SI). The internal consistency, stability, and factor structure of the VSI-J and its associations with anxiety, depression and severity measures were investigated.

Results: The factor structure of the VSI-J is unidimensional and similar to that of the original VSI (Cronbach's α = 0.93). Construct validity was demonstrated by significant correlations with ASI (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001), HAD-ANX (r = 0.19, p = 0.0003), and IBS-SI scores (r = 0.45, p < 0.0001). Furthermore, the VSI-J was a significant predictor of severity scores on the IBS-SI and demonstrated good discriminant (p < 0.0001) and incremental (p < 0.0001) validity.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that the VSI-J is a reliable and valid measure of visceral sensitivity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart showing the selection of the participants. Of 875 possible participants, 66 were absent from class, 410 did not respond to the questionnaire, 38 did not fully complete the questionnaire, and 22 were excluded because they were 20 years of age or older. We analyzed the data of the remaining 349 persons who answered all of the items on the questionnaire.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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