Development, internal consistency and reliability of the Verona Service Satisfaction Scale - European Version - EPSILON Study 7

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 measuiring service satisfaction. Aim To report the development and reliability study of the European Version of the VSSS (VSSS-EU). Method A sampleof 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% Cl 0.94-0.97) and ranged from 0.92 (95% Cl 0.60-1.00) to 0.96 (95% Cl 0.93-0.98) across the sites. Test - retest reliability for VSSS- EU total score, pooled over sites, was 0.82 (95% Cl 0.780.85) and ranged from 0.73 (95% Cl 0.6-0.86) to 0.93 (95% Cl 0.89-0.97) across the sites. Conclusion VSSS-EU is a reliable instrument for measuring service satisfaction in people with schizophrenia, for useincomparativecross-nationalresearch projects and in routine clinical practice in mental health services across Europe. Declaration of interest No conflict of interest. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.