The Brief Prakriti Inventory: Latent structure, reliability, and validity.
Hemant Bhargav1, Umesh Chikkanna1, Bharath Holla1
1Integrative Medicine, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, BENGALURU, Karnataka, 560029, India.
Wellcome Open Research
|January 12, 2026
Summary
The Brief-Prakriti Inventory (BPI) is a new, validated tool for assessing Ayurvedic personality types (Vata, Pitta, Kapha). It offers a reliable method for understanding individual constitution in traditional Indian medicine.
Area of Science:
- Psychometrics
- Integrative Medicine
- Traditional Indian Medicine
Background:
- Ayurveda conceptualizes personality (Prakriti) using three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.
- Existing Prakriti assessment tools lack psychometric validation and accessibility.
- The Brief-Prakriti Inventory (BPI) was developed to address these limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and psychometrically validate the Brief-Prakriti Inventory (BPI).
- To create a brief, accessible self-report instrument for assessing Ayurvedic personality types.
Main Methods:
- A 21-item pool was refined from classical Ayurvedic texts and literature.
- Psychometric evaluation included Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), Latent Class Analysis (LCA), and Item Response Theory (IRT).
- Validity was assessed through test-retest reliability, convergent, and divergent validity.
Main Results:
- MCA showed distinct dosha-aligned item clustering.
- LCA supported a three-class model for dominant dosha profiles.
- The BPI demonstrated strong reliability (Vata=0.87, Pitta=0.75, Kapha=0.87) and validity.
Conclusions:
- The BPI is a brief, reliable, and psychometrically validated tool for assessing Ayurvedic dosha typology.
- The BPI facilitates biological phenotyping and personalized interventions in integrative health care.
Keywords:
AyurvedaIndividual DifferencesPersonality AssessmentPrakritiPsychometricsTraditional MedicineMore Related Videos
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