Assessing irritability in patients with stroke: psychometric properties of the Irritability Questionnaire. (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mimentza, Naiara; González-Fraile, Eduardo; Arango-Lasprilla, Juan Carlos; Ortiz-Marqués, Nuria; Berrios, German E.; González-Pinto, Ana; Quemada, Jose I.
• Is Part Of: Brain injury. Volume 34:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 121
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: Psychometric -- irritability -- stroke -- psychopathology -- caregiver; Brain damage -- Periodicals; Brain -- Wounds and injuries -- Periodicals; Brain Injuries -- Periodicals; 617.481
• DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2019.1681513
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0269-9052

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objective : Irritability is a very common symptom after stroke and a source of a great deal of distress to patients and caretakers. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Irritability Questionnaire (IQ) in a sample of patients with stroke. Methods : we recruited 94 participants (47 stroke patients and 47 healthy controls) that participated in a 6-month longitudinal observational study. The IQ includes three dimensions in the assessment: emotion, cognition, and behavior. IQ has two subscales: The Irritability Questionnaire (IRQ) and the Carer's Irritability Questionnaire (CIRQ). Internal consistency, convergent validity, and sensitivity to change were evaluated for both IRQ and CIRQ. Results : Cronbach's alpha for the IRQ was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.76 to 0.87), whereas for the CIRQ was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.89 to 0.94). Convergent validity was good for both subscales. IRQ did not show sensitivity to change at 6 months ( p -value = 0.99), while CIRQ showed moderate changes (−0.29, p -value = 0.124). Conclusions : IQ presented good psychometric properties to assess irritability in stroke. The tool detected significant differences between groups (stroke and healthy controls) and can be considered a valid instrument for clinical and research purposes.