Validity and Reliability of the Arabic Version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale

Abstract

Background: The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is widely used for patients with schizophrenia. This scale is reliable and valid. The PANSS was translated and validated in several languages. Objective: The aim of this study was to translate and validate the PANSS in the Arab population. Subjects and Methods: The PANSS was translated into formal Arabic language using the back-translation method. 101 Arab patients with schizophrenia and 98 Arabs with no diagnosis of any mental disorder were recruited. The Arabic version of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI-6) was used as a diagnostic tool to confirm the diagnosis of schizophrenia or rule out any diagnosis for the healthy control group. Reliability of the scale was assessed by calculating internal consistency, interrater reliability and test-retest reliability. Construct validity was assessed using the Arabic version of the MINI-6. PANSS total scores were correlated with the Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale. Results: Our findings showed that the internal consistency was good (0.92). Scores on the PANSS of the patients were much higher than those of the healthy controls. The PANSS showed good interrater reliability and test-retest reliability (0.92 and 0.75, respectively). In comparison with the MINI-6, the PANSS showed good sensitivity and specificity, which implies good construct validity of this version. Conclusion: In conclusion, the Arabic version of the PANSS is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of patients with schizophrenia in the Arab population.

Validation of the Five-Factor Model of the Arabic Version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in Schizophrenia

“…Trained raters administered the Arabic version of the Structured Clinical Interview for the PANSS to 101 patients (see Yehya et al [4] for details). This interview was developed by Kay et al [29] to assist in PANSS rating and took 30-45 min to complete.…”

“…Kay et al [3] developed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to capture the symptoms observed in patients with schizophrenia. This scale has been translated into Arabic and validated in the Arab population [4] . The PANSS is made up of 30 items that use a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 "absent" to 7 "extreme."…”

Cross-Validation of the Arabic Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Module K, for Diagnosis of Schizophrenia and the Arabic Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale

“…This cross-sectional study is part of a project aiming to validate the Arabic versions of psychiatric scales used in the assessment of patients with schizophrenia in the Arab population residing in Qatar (Hammoudeh et al 2016;Hani et al 2016;Yehya et al 2016;Yehya et al 2017). This paper reports a secondary analysis of the relationship between the Arabic MINI6-Mod-K and PANSS.…”

“…It has been validated and translated into several languages such as French (Lancon et al 1999), Chinese (Phillips et al 1991), Spanish (Peralta Martin and Cuesta Zorita 1994) and Brazilian Portuguese (Higuchi et al 2014) among others. The Arabic version of the PANSS was translated, culturally adapted and linguistically validated by our team (Yehya et al 2016) to address the lack of availability of such tools in the Arabic language. It had good validity, reliability, and internal consistency and therefore proved to b e a r e l i a b l e m e a s u r e m e n t s c a l e i n t h e A r a b population (Yehya et al 2016;Yehya et al 2017).…”

“…The Arabic version of the PANSS was translated, culturally adapted and linguistically validated by our team (Yehya et al 2016) to address the lack of availability of such tools in the Arabic language. It had good validity, reliability, and internal consistency and therefore proved to b e a r e l i a b l e m e a s u r e m e n t s c a l e i n t h e A r a b population (Yehya et al 2016;Yehya et al 2017).…”