Open AccessItemized clinician ratings versus global ratings of symptom severity in patients with schizophrenia
Author(s) -
ShoresWilson Kathy,
Biggs Melanie M.,
Miller Alexander L.,
Carmody Thomas J.,
Chiles John A.,
John Rush A.,
Lynn Crismon M.,
Toprac Marcia G.,
Witte Bradley P.,
Webster Joe C.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.122
Subject(s) - brief psychiatric rating scale , rating scale , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , psychology , psychosis , scale for the assessment of negative symptoms , psychiatry , clinical psychology , physical therapy , medicine , developmental psychology
This study compares ratings obtained with an itemized clinician‐rated symptom severity measure – the 24‐item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS 24 ) – with a Physician Global Rating Scale (PhGRS) and a Patient Global Rating Scale (PtGRS) in assessing treatment outcomes in patients with schizophrenia (SCZ). A total of 91 patients (31 inpatients and 60 outpatients) with SCZ were enrolled in a feasibility study of the use of medication algorithms in the treatment of SCZ. Clinicians completed the BPRS 24 and the PhGRS; patients completed the PtGRS at each visit. The analyses reported here were conducted using the original BPRS 18 and four items from the BPRS 18 that rate the positive symptoms of psychosis (the Positive Symptom Rating Scale or PSRS), comparing anchored with global rating scales and with one another. The PtGRS had the lowest effect size (0.8) and was negatively correlated with the other ratings in inpatients. The PhGRS was significantly correlated (0.46) with the BPRS 18 , but the same person completed both ratings. The effect size of the PhGRS (0.6) was generally lower than with the BPRS 18 (1.4) in differentiating responders from non‐responders. On average, the PSRS had a slightly lower effect size than the longer itemized BPRS 18 , but the results support its use as a quantitative rating in circumstances where it is not feasible to routinely use a lengthier scale. Copyright © 2002 Whurr Publishers Ltd.