New subscales for an anchored version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale: Construction, reliability, and validity in acute psychiatric admissions.

Abstract

Attending psychiatrists completed an anchored version of the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-A) based on admission and evaluation information on a total of 2,921 adult patients treated at 1 public sector acute psychiatric teaching hospital. Exploratory factor analysis was applied to a 6-month sample to construct 4 nonoverlapping subscales: Resistance, Positive Symptoms, Negative Symptoms, and Psychological Discomfort. Confirmatory factor analysis compared these new subscales to 3 other published subscale models using a second 6-month sample. Internal consistency, rater influence, and interrater agreement were estimated in separate studies. Discriminant validity was explored by comparison of diagnosis-based samples. Application of the BPRS-A as a debriefing instrument in the study of symptomatic change and the multiple challenges inherent in psychometric study of such a rating scale in realistic hospital practice are discussed.

Psychometric properties and factor structure of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Nursing Home version in an elderly neuropsychiatric population

“…This finding is not surprising as factor analytic studies of the BPRS suggest that this scale measures a wider variety of psychiatric behaviors than indicated by an overall score (e.g. Lachar et al, 2001). Future research examining the relationship between subscales from the BPRS with the NPI-NH factors would be beneficial in further understanding the psychometric properties of the NPI-NH.…”

Does substance use disorder affect clinical expression in first-hospitalization patients with schizophrenia? Analysis of a prospective cohort

“…Unlike some authors who have investigated only clinical presentation at admission (Averill et al, 2001;Lachar et al, 2001), our analysis also compare predictive value of psychopathological severity at admission with one week after ones, finding a role in predicting length of stay only for the latter. This finding is probably explained by clinical criteria adopted by the physician to determine the length of stay during the hospitalization, therefore patients with more severe symptoms of schizophrenia, regardless of substance use, have longer hospitalization than others.…”

Sample size requirements for the internal validation of psychiatric scales

“…The data simulation was performed using R software 2.6.2.; vectors ε j , f m and C were generated using the function rnorm and δ j using runif. (Bell et al, 1994;Fresan et al, 2005;Honey et al, 2003;Kay et al, 1990;Lancon et al, 1999;Lee et al, 2003;Lindenmayer et al, 2004;Loza et al, 2003;Lykouras et al, 2000;Salokangas et al, 2002;Villalta-Gil et al, 2006) 11 --1 8 -2 BPRS (Adachi et al, 2000;Harvey et al, 1996;Lachar et al, 2001;Ventura et al, 2000) 4 --2 1 1 -BAI (Beck, 1991;Chapman et al, 2009;Kabacoff et al, 1997;Steer et al, 1995;Steer et al, 1993) (Gabryelewicz et al, 2004;Galinowski et al, 1995;Lee et al, 2003;Parker et al, 2003;Serretti et al, 1999) 5 3 2 ----BDI (Basker et al, 2007;Bonicatto et al, 1998;Bonilla et al, 2004;Gorenstein et al, 1999;Grunebaum et al, 2005;Helm et al, 2003;Jo et al, 2007;Killgore, 1999;Munoz et al, 2007;Powell, 2003;Salamero et al, 1994;Shek, 1990;Steer et al, 1989;Uslu et al, 2008;Wang et al, 2005) …”