Development, internal consistency and reliability of the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale--European Version. EPSILON Study 7. European Psychiatric Services: Inputs Linked to Outcome Domains and Needs.

BACKGROUND: Satisfaction with mental health services is an important quality and outcome variable. The Verona Service Satisfaction Scale (VSSS) is a well-established method for measuring service satisfaction.

AIM: To report the development and reliability study of the European Version of the VSSS (VSSS-EU).

METHOD: A sample of people with schizophrenia on the case-load of local mental health services in the five European participating countries was assessed. The VSSS-EU was administered at one site in each country at two points in time. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed and compared between the five sites.

RESULTS: The alpha coefficient for the VSSS-EU total score in the pooled sample was 0.96 (95% CI 0.94-0.97) and ranged from 0.92 (95% CI 0.60-1.00) to 0.96 (95% CI 0.93-0.98) across the sites. Test-retest reliability for VSSS-EU total score, pooled over sites, was 0.82 (95% CI 0.78-0.85) and ranged from 0.73 (95% CI 0.6-0.86) to 0.93 (95% CI 0.89-0.97) across the sites.

CONCLUSION: VSSS-EU is a reliable instrument for measuring service satisfaction in people with schizophrenia, for use in comparative cross-national research projects and in routine clinical practice in mental health services across Europe.