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

Abstract

ObjectiveThe 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 methodsParticipants 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionThese findings suggest that the VSI-J is a reliable and valid measure of visceral sensitivity.

Corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1 (CRH-R1) polymorphisms are associated with irritable bowel syndrome and acoustic startle response

“…Furthermore, the administration of a CRH receptor antagonist inhibited this exaggerated response in IBS subjects, and also decreased self-reported pain scores during electrical rectal stimulation in IBS subjects (Fukudo et al, 1998). Similarly, we found that the major alleles for the CRH-R1 SNPs were associated with GI symptom anxiety as measured by VSI, which has been shown to positively correlate with IBS severity in both U.S (Labus et al, 2007) and Japanese (Saigo et al, 2014) cohorts of IBS subjects, further suggesting that CRH receptor activation results in increased visceral perception. The presence of general trauma events early in life impacted the association of one of the CRH SNPs and usual IBS symptom severity, but only in IBS subjects with at least one copy of the minor allele of CRH-R1 SNP, rs110402.…”

Validity and Reliability of the Japanese Version of the Rome III Diagnostic Questionnaire for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia

“…It is unlikely that participants selected by physicians may be biased since physicians were asked to exclude FGID patients who had improved their GI symptoms and the mean severity score in IBS patients was considered as a moderate level at the index visit on the IBS-SSS, 13 which was almost concordant with the previous findings of validation studies for IBS. 9,23,24 Lastly, IBS patients were significantly younger in age compared with FD patients or control subjects. Younger population might be more educated than older population in Japan.…”

Increased expression of nerve growth factor correlates with visceral hypersensitivity and impaired gut barrier function in diarrhoea‐predominant irritable bowel syndrome: a preliminary explorative study

“…Visceral Sensitivity Index is a 15‐item questionnaire designed to measure visceral sensitivity and gastrointestinal‐specific anxiety. The total score ranges from 0 ( no gastrointestinal‐specific anxiety or visceral hypersensitivity ) to 75 ( severe gastrointestinal‐specific anxiety and visceral hypersensitivity ).…”