Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Gastrointestinal-specific anxiety (GSA) is considered as an important factor in the course of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). GSA may be evaluated by the visceral sensitivity index (VSI). AIM: To translate original English version of the VSI into Ukrainian language (VSI-UA) and then to test its validity and reliability in patients with IBS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 108 patients of both sexes, aged 18-44 years, with IBS were assessed by the VSI-UA, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: depression (HADS-Dep) and anxiety (HADS-Anx). Reliability was checked by Cronbach's α and test-retest method with calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Content validity was assessed by calculation of the content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). The construct validity was assessed by estimating Pearson`s correlation between VSI-UA, PHQ-9, BDI, HADS-Anx, and HADS-Dep. RESULTS: Cronbach's α for VSI-UA was 0.84; the ICC between the first measurement and the one repeated 4 weeks after administration of VSI-UA was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87-0.95). The calculated CVR for each item of the VSI-UA was higher than the critical value of 0.56, and the CVI was 0.94. A moderate positive correlation was found between VSI-UA and PHQ-9 (r = 0.65), BDI (r = 0.69), HADS-Anx (r = 0.61), and HADS-Dep (r = 0.48); p < 0.05 in all correlations. CONCLUSIONS: VSI-UA is a reliable and valid tool for the assessment of GSA in Ukrainian-language patients with IBS, and it could be implemented in routine clinical practice to manage patients with IBS.