title: Development and validation of a self-reported questionnaire on users' opinions about schizophrenia: a participatory research.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy. lorenza.magliano@unina2
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Magliano
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fiorillo
authors.forename: Heidegret
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Del Vecchio
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Malangone
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bachelet
authors.forename: Giampiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cesari
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: D'Ambrogio
authors.forename: Francesca Fulgosi
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Cigala
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Veltro
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zanus
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pioli
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maj
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires