Measuring Patient/Visitor Incivility in Italian Hospitals: Initial Psychometric Evaluation of a Short-Form Scale for Organizational Practice

Patient/visitor incivility, defined as low-intensity behavior from patients or visitors, is an underrecognized yet pervasive psychosocial stressor in healthcare. Despite growing attention to this issue, brief, validated instruments for assessing patient/visitor incivility in Italian hospital settings, across both clinical and administrative roles, remain lacking. To provide an initial psychometric evaluation of the Italian version of the Short-Form Patient/Visitor Incivility Scale, yielding a concise tool for organizational assessment and prevention. Hospital workers from eight hospitals in Northern Italy completed the Short-Form Patient/Visitor Incivility Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses assessed the factorial structure, reliability, and construct validity. Measurement invariance across gender, age, tenure, and occupational role was tested. Correlations tested nomological and divergent validity. Analyses confirmed a unidimensional four-item structure with excellent reliability. Patient/visitor incivility was positively associated with patient/visitor aggression, workload, and emotional exhaustion, and negatively associated with job satisfaction and self-esteem. A weak inverse relation with perceived recognition confirmed divergent validity. Residual measurement invariance was supported for gender, tenure, and role, while partial residual invariance was supported for age. Small subgroup differences indicated somewhat higher exposure among nurses, women, and younger employees, whereas administrative staff reported exposure levels comparable to those of clinical personnel. The Italian Short-Form Patient/Visitor Incivility Scale provides a brief, valid measure for assessing patient/visitor incivility in heterogeneous hospital workforces, supporting early identification, targeted prevention, and organization-wide monitoring.