Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire on users' opinions about schizophrenia: a participatory research.
BACKGROUND
Although users' involvement in mental health research has repeatedly been acknowledged as having a positive influence on research quality, this rarely happens.


OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a Questionnaire on Users' Opinions (QOU) about schizophrenia, in close collaboration with 279 persons affected by this disorder.


METHODS
A preliminary list of items concerning the opinions of users with schizophrenia regarding causes, treatments and psychosocial consequences of the disorder was developed by 38 users with schizophrenia and 40 professionals who attended a workshop. Psychometric properties of the QOU were tested on 241 users with schizophrenia, 149 of whom were randomly assigned to a test-retest study and 92 to a face-validity study. Content and construct validity were explored in the whole sample.


RESULTS
The final version of the QOU contains: (1) 24 items on the psychosocial consequences of schizophrenia, grouped into six subscales, whose Cronbach's alpha ranged between 0.55 and 0.74; (2) five multiple choice items on the Italian psychiatric law; (3) 12 open questions; and (4) four yes/no skipping items. Items' reliability, measured by Cohen's kappa coefficient, ranged between 0.55 and 0.92.


CONCLUSIONS
This questionnaire may be useful to assess patients' beliefs about schizophrenia and to target psychosocial interventions for this mental disorder.
Magliano
Lorenza
L
Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy. lorenza.magliano@unina2
Fiorillo
Andrea
A
Del Vecchio
Heidegret
H
Malangone
Claudio
C
De Rosa
Corrado
C
Bachelet
Carla
C
Cesari
Giampiero
G
D'Ambrogio
Rosa
R
Cigala
Francesca Fulgosi
FF
Veltro
Franco
F
Zanus
Paola
P
Pioli
Rosaria
R
Maj
Mario
M
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires