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Reliability of a Rating Scale to Assess Post‐stroke Psychiatric Symptoms
Author(s) -
Kusunoki Tadashi,
Inomata Tomokazu,
Homma Akira,
Hirai Shunsaku
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
psychogeriatrics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.647
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1479-8301
pISSN - 1346-3500
DOI - 10.1111/j.1479-8301.2001.tb00075.x
Subject(s) - rating scale , apathy , concordance , intraclass correlation , inter rater reliability , reliability (semiconductor) , psychology , stroke (engine) , clinical psychology , psychiatry , cognition , psychometrics , physical therapy , medicine , developmental psychology , power (physics) , physics , mechanical engineering , quantum mechanics , engineering
Background : Various rating scales for post‐stroke psychiatric symptoms such as cognitive impairment have long been used in drug efficacy trials in Japan. However, their reliability has not been established. The purpose of the present study was to examine the inter‐rater and intra‐rater reliability of a rating scale, which has been conventionally used in Japan. Methods : The most frequent symptoms, including apathy, emotional and cognitive impairment, found in post‐stroke patients were assessed using a rating scale comprising 17 items and 4 global assessment scales. Semi‐structured interviews of 18 patients with symptoms with various degrees of severity were videotaped. Twelve physicians who were not interviewers independently assessed the severity of symptoms in the 18 patients by replaying the videotapes. This procedure was repeated twice with an interval of two months to examine inter‐rater and test‐retest reliability. Results : The results revealed almost satisfactory reliability. Intraclass correlation coefficients were over 0.6 in the inter‐rater analysis for most items and the concordance correlation coefficients were over 0.7 in the intra‐rater analysis. The rating scale was considered to be reliable, although some items showed relatively low agreement. Conclusion : The conventional rating scale to assess post‐stroke psychiatric symptoms showed satisfactory inter‐rater and intra‐rater reliability by the videotape method. The validity study should be further investigated.