title: Gastrointestinal specific anxiety in irritable bowel syndrome: validation of the Japanese version of the visceral sensitivity index for university students.
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.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that the VSI-J is a reliable and valid measure of visceral sensitivity.
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saigo
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tayama
authors.forename: Toyohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hamaguchi
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakaya
authors.forename: Tadaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomiie
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Bernick
authors.forename: Motoyori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Jennifer S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Labus
authors.forename: Bruce D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Naliboff
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shirabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. sfukudo@med.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukudo