Spiritual Needs of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Their Caregivers: a European Cross-sectional Nursing Study

A European-wide cross-sectional non-interventional study, initiated by a pilot study in Italy, will be conducted. The first phase of the pilot study is a 6-step translation, adaptation, and validation of the extended version of the Spiritual Needs Questionnaire (SpNQ-EV) and the Interpretation of Illness Questionnaire (IIQ) adopting the methodology [3] described in figure 1. To ensure they are both valid and user-friendly, the Thinking Out Loud (TOL) technique (think-aloud method) will pre-test their self-administration and provide fine tuning of the secondary objectives of the study. TOL involves participants verbalizing their thoughts while completing the questionnaires, allowing to capture real-time insights into their understanding, interpretation, and potential challenges with questionnaires' items. The second phase will consist of an anonymous e-survey consisting of the six questionnaires described in table 1 including the translated and validated SPNQ-EV and IIQ developed in phase 1. The European study will employ a multilingual anonymous e-survey developed to ensure accessibility in participants' native languages, eventually preceded by country-based pilot studies. Eligible participants include adolescents and adults with IBD, as well as their caregivers, recruited via nurses and patient associations.