Psychometric properties of Persian version of irritable bowel syndrome- behavioral responses questionnaire (IBS-BRQ)

This study aimed to determine the psychometric properties of Persian version of Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Behavioral Responses Questionnaire (IBS-BRQ).

In addition to somatic symptoms and complaints, patients with irritable bowel syndrome have specific dysfunctional behaviors that lead to disease persistence and functional disturbance.

Participants included 170 patients with irritable bowel syndrome, who were diagnosed based on ROM-IV criteria and selected from patients referring to the Gastrointestinal Disorders Clinic, as well as 100 persons from the general populationin Isfahan in 2020. Both groups completed the 26-item Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Behavioral Responses Questionnaire (IBS-BRQ). Also, questionnaires including the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS), Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Quality of Life IBS-QOL, Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R), Irritable Bowel Syndrome-Patient Satisfaction (IBS-SAT), Hope Scale, Interpersonal Forgiveness Inventory (IFI), and Dysfunctional Attitude Scale-26-item (DAS-26) were completed to determine the validity of IBS-BRQ. Tests of internal consistency, principal components analyses (PCAs), differentiation analysis, and correlation were used to determine its reliability, along with criterion and construct validity.

IBS-BRQ was valid and reliable in both groups with a high degree of internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha was obtained in the sample of patients with IBS and the total sample of participants 0.87 and 0.95 respectively. This scale differentiated significantly between IBS patients and non-patients (p<.001). The criterion validity was high as evidenced by a high correlation with DAS-26 (r=0.53, p<0.001), IBS-QOL (r=0.76, p<0.001), IBS-SSS(r=0.44, p<0.001), IPQ-R(r=0.56, p<0.001), and reverse correlation with IFI (r=-0.031, p<0.001), IBS-SAT(r=-0.23, p<0.001), and HOPE (r=-0.49, p<0.001).

The Persian version of the IBS-BRQ proved to be a well-defined behavioral response measure in IBS patients with high validity and reliability, making it a suitable measure to be used in future IBS clinical research in Iran.