A new Italian instrument for the assessment of irritability in patients with epilepsy

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to analyze the psychometric properties of a new Italian instrument for the assessment of irritability in adult patients with epilepsy (I-Epi). The I-Epi is an 18-item self-administered questionnaire focusing on four domains: Physical Functioning, Verbal Functioning, Temperament Functioning, and Epilepsy Functioning. Results: Five hundred four patients from nine secondary and tertiary Italian centers for the care of epilepsy were recruited and interviewed. Each patient was evaluated on a series of demographic and clinical variables recorded before the administration of the I-Epi and of the AQ (Aggression Questionnaire), used for the external validity. The final results supported the reliability and validity of I-Epi as a measure of irritability in the adult epilepsy population. Gender differences were observed in the overall score and in all the subscales (apart from the Physical Functioning), with females having a higher irritability level compared with males; moreover, the irritability score was associated with the number of drugs taken.Conclusion: The psychometric characteristics of the I-Epi seemed fairly good. We believe that the adoption of this new instrument could be very useful in both clinical and research management of patients with epilepsy.