A New Routine for Analyzing Brief Symptom Inventory Profiles in Chronic Pain Patients to Evaluate Psychological Comorbidity

Abstract

Question: Comorbidity, i.e., additional psychological distress in patients already suffering from chronic somatic diseases (e.g., orthopedic conditions) is of growing importance. The quality of analyzing and interpreting the often used Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) used with orthopedic patients should improve by employing a new “case definition” of four groups (instead of two) of differentially psychologically distressed patients instead of two groups as before.Methods: Four groups with the different psychological distress definitions of “no,” “mild,” “remarkable,” and “severe” were to be analyzed from a group of 639 orthopedic patients in inpatient rehabilitation clinics. The BSI is transformed into T values (M=50, SD=10). There is “no” distress if no T [two scales] is ≥60 and “mild” distress if T [two scales] and/or T [GSI] is ≥60 and <63. If T [two scales] and/or T [GSI] is ≥63 and <70, it is “remarkable,” and if T [two scales] and/or T [GSI] ≥70, it speaks for “severe” psychological distress.Results: The new tool for analyzing psychological distress based on the T-scores of the BSI resulted in the following four groups: No psychological distress (41.9%): unspecific health-related information stands for a useful intervention. About 13.3% demonstrated low psychological distress: shorter diagnostic interviews and a few more diagnostic examinations led to a low-level outpatient group program to improve health and well-being in a preventive sense; one repeated measurement in 4weeks is advised. Remarkable psychological distress (26%): in-depth exploration using interviews, tests, and questionnaires to choose specific interventions in a single and/or group setting, outpatient or inpatient treatment; repeated measurements and process control. About 18.8% reported severe psychological distress: in-depth exploration led to specific interventions in a single and/or group setting, almost an inpatient setting; immediately crisis intervention and high-frequent process control.Conclusion: The new evaluation strategy of the BSI should improve practice and research; further investigation is necessary.

Are paranoid ideation and hallucination spectrum experiences differently associated with affect dynamics? A continuous-time modeling approach.

“…Averaged across the sample, the Paranoia Checklist score was M = 1.36 ( SD = 0.38), the score of the Launay Slade Hallucination Scale Revised was M = 6.57 ( SD = 6.54), and on the Brief Symptom Checklist the mean Depression subscale score was M = 1.47 ( SD = 0.71). These scores are comparable with the levels of paranoid ideation, hallucination spectrum experiences, and depressive symptoms that have been found in other general population samples (Franke, 2017; Freeman et al, 2005; Lincoln, Keller, et al, 2009; Moritz et al, 2016). Histograms of the three symptom variables paranoid ideation, hallucination spectrum experiences, and depressive symptoms are presented in in the online supplemental material.…”

“…At baseline, we used the 6-item depression subscale of the Brief Symptom Checklist (BSCL; Franke, 2017) to assess depressive symptoms (e.g., “How much have you been suffering from feelings of worthlessness?”). Items were rated on 5-point Likert scales from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( very strongly ) and mean scores were calculated.…”

“…Items were rated on 5-point Likert scales from 1 ( not at all ) to 5 ( very strongly ) and mean scores were calculated. For the depression subscale, internal consistency has been shown to be good and good convergent validity has also been demonstrated (Franke, 2017).…”

Predictors of Unplanned Readmissions Among Patients With Substance Use Disorders

“…The Brief Symptom Check List (BSCL) 24 originated from the Brief Symptom Inventory 25 and comprises 53 items and measures self-rated symptom severity and distress on a 5-point Likert scale. Each item is scored 0 to 4 giving a maximal total score of 212.…”

Muster von problematischem Kaufverhalten unter Studierenden und deren Unterschiede in Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, materieller Werteorientierung, psychischer Belastung und Produktpräferenz

“…Die psychische Belastung wurde mit der Mini-SCL [24] erhoben, welche psychische Belastung auf den drei Skalen Depressivität (DEPR), Ängstlichkeit (ANGS) und Somatisierung (SOMA) mit jeweils sechs Items und einem globalen Kennwert (GSI) misst. Die Skalen der Mini-SCL wurden aus der Brief-Symptom-Checklist (BSCL) übernommen [25], wobei die Skala SOMA um ein Item reduziert wurde. Das Screeninginstrument bildet psychische Belastung auf einer fünfstufigen Likert-Skala (0 = "überhaupt nicht" bis 4 = "sehr stark") mit 18 geichsinnigen Items ab.…”