Development of the Japanese Version of the Views on Inpatient Care (VOICE-J): Service Users’ Perspectives on Psychiatric Inpatient Care

The quality of psychiatric inpatient care is a pressing concern in Japan, where hospitalization is prolonged and coercive practices remain common. Incorporating patients' perspectives is essential for evaluation and service improvement. The Views on Inpatient Care (VOICE) scale, originally developed in the United Kingdom through co-production between service users and researchers, assesses inpatients' experiences. This study aimed to develop a Japanese version (VOICE-J) through rigorous translation and cross-cultural verification, and to evaluate its psychometric properties among psychiatric inpatients. People with lived experience contributed at every stage, from item review to questionnaire usability. The validation survey was conducted in a private psychiatric hospital in Tokyo, with 134 inpatients providing analyzable responses. VOICE-J demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.94), strong negative correlations with patient satisfaction (Japanese version of Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, 8-item, CSQ-8J) and recovery-oriented support (Brief INSPIRE-J), and good test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.85). Known-groups validity was partially supported, with more positive evaluations among voluntary and self-requested admissions. VOICE-J offers a reliable, patient-centered instrument for assessing psychiatric inpatient care in Japan and supports quality improvement through patients' perspectives.