Reliability and validity of a Brief Self‐rated Scale of Health Condition with Acute Schizophrenia

Abstract

Aim:The aim of this study was to develop a new Brief Scale of Self-rated Health Condition with Acute Schizophrenia (BsHAS) and to examine its reliability, validity and correlation to psychiatric symptoms. Methods:We examined the reliability and validity of the BsHAS consisting of four items (physical health condition, mood, interpersonal fatigue and interest) for 199 inpatients with acute schizophrenia and compared the patients' subjective health conditions as assessed by the BsHAS with their objective psychiatric symptoms.Results: Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.79, indicating that the reliability of the scale was sufficient. These four items chosen from the previous studies were approved by an expert panel, which suggested that the scale has content validity. The BsHAS total score was significantly improved at discharge. However, the effect size was only −0.24. In particular, improvement was not recognized in the interpersonal fatigue item. These findings suggest that some patients were discharged without realizing the improvement of their health condition. The patients answered all questions without subsequently showing deteriorating symptoms, suggesting that the scale can be applied to acute-phase patients with schizophrenia. No obvious relation was recognized between the patients' subjective health condition as assessed by the BsHAS and their objective psychiatric symptoms. This result suggests that the BsHAS can provide additional information to the objective assessment of psychiatric symptoms. Conclusion:These results show that the BsHAS can help psychiatric professionals to know patients' subjective health conditions, and that the longitudinal use of this scale may be useful for evaluating the degree of recovery from schizophrenia.

Dimensional symptom severity and global cognitive function predict subjective quality of life in patients with schizophrenia and healthy adults

“…However, it may also reflect fundamental differences between the objective narrative clinicians have, and the subjective narratives that patients have about psychiatric symptoms. Indeed, although some data suggests that severely ill patients are unable to accurately report negative symptoms (Hamera et al, 1996; Selten et al, 2000), more recent studies have suggested that self-report measures may be both valid and useful in this patient population (Dollfus et al, 2016), especially in the assessment of treatment outcome and overall QoL (Fleischhacker et al, 2005; Lindstrom et al, 2001; Ohata et al, 2014). Thus, the present findings may add to a growing literature emphasizing the utility of self-reported symptoms in assessing patient-centered outcomes.…”

Validation of the Arabic version of the “self-evaluation of negative symptoms” scale (SNS)

“…8 CHU de Caen, Service de Psychiatrie, 14000 Caen, France. 9 Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, ISTS, GIP Cyceron, 14000 Caen, France.…”

“…Several tools were designed primarily to measure symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, most of which relied on hetero-assessments, of which the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) that measures both negative and positive symptoms of patients. However, recent studies highlighted the importance of subjective assessment by schizophrenic patients [9], since it allows them to assess their overall functioning, and requires their participation in analyzing their symptoms. This can be considered as a basis for cognitive/social therapy of patients with schizophrenia [6], especially in the early stages of the disease.…”

Validity and reliability of a Persian version of the self- evaluation of negative symptoms (SNS)

“…These instruments evaluate the severity of negative symptoms based on the evaluation of the observer, but not on the patient's self-evaluation [7]. In fact, researchers believe that self-reporting complements objective evaluations of negative symptoms in schizophrenia, since patients are able to accurately express negative symptoms [7][8][9][10]. Moreover, patients' selfevaluation is important because it allows them to evaluate their overall performance and participate in the process of examining and analyzing their symptoms, which in turn encourages them to participate more in the treatment process [11].…”