Reliability and validity of the brief psychosomatic symptom scale (BPSS) in patients from general hospitals

Lei Li; Yubo Zhang; Simiao Feng; Yin Cao; Hengfen Li; Xiangping Li; Yunxin Ji; Hua Sun; Xueqin Mao; Bo Zhou; Aihua Ni; Jing Zhang; Zhong Zhao; Xiuli Li; Xianwen Wei; Aiqin Wu; Yonggui Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.03.014

Reliability and validity of the brief psychosomatic symptom scale (BPSS) in patients from general hospitals

Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2023 Jul-Aug:83:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.03.014. Epub 2023 Mar 29.

Authors

Lei Li¹, Yubo Zhang², Simiao Feng², Yin Cao³, Hengfen Li⁴, Xiangping Li⁵, Yunxin Ji⁶, Hua Sun⁷, Xueqin Mao⁸, Bo Zhou⁹, Aihua Ni¹⁰, Jing Zhang¹¹, Zhong Zhao¹², Xiuli Li¹³, Xianwen Wei¹⁴, Aiqin Wu¹⁵, Yonggui Yuan¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ The Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Department of Depression and Sleep Disorders, The Fourth People's Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, China.
² The Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, The Affiliated Changzhou No. 2 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
⁵ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China.
⁶ Department of Psychosomatic, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo, China.
⁷ Department of Clinical Psychology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China.
⁸ Department of Psychology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China.
⁹ Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China.
¹⁰ Department of Clinical Psychology, HeBei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, China.
¹¹ Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the First Hospital of Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao, China.
¹² Department of Neurology, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, China.
¹³ Department of Clinical Psychology, YiDu central hospital of Weifang, Weifang, China.
¹⁴ Department of Neurology, Puer People's Hospital, Puer, China.
¹⁵ Department of Clinical Psychology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, SuZhou, China.
¹⁶ The Department of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, ZhongDa Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Nanjing, China; Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Critical Care Medicine, Southeast university, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 37028094
DOI: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.03.014

Abstract

Objectives: To verify the Brief Psychosomatic Symptom Scale (BPSS) among patients with psychosomatic-related disorders in general hospitals and determine the threshold of BPSS.

Methods: The BPSS is a shortened 10-item version of the psychosomatic symptoms scale (PSSS). Data from 483 patients and 388 healthy controls were included for psychometric analyses. Internal consistency, construct validity, and factorial validity were verified. The threshold of BPSS in distinguishing psychosomatic patients from healthy controls were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. The ROC curve of the BPSS was compared with that of the PSSS and patient health questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) by using Venkatraman's method with 2000 times Monte-Carlo simulations.

Results: The reliability of the BPSS was good with Cronbach's α of 0.831. BPSS was significantly correlated with PSSS (r = 0.886, P < 0.001), PHQ-15 (r = 0.752, P < 0.001), PHQ-9 (r = 0.757, P < 0.001) and GAD-7 (r = 0.715, P < 0.001), which indicated good construct validity. ROC analyses demonstrated that the AUC of the BPSS was comparable with that of PSSS. The gender-specific threshold of BPSS was determined as ≥8 in males and ≥ 9 in females.

Conclusions: The BPSS is a brief and validated instrument for screening common psychosomatic symptoms.

Keywords: BPSS; Cutoff value; Psychometrics; Psychosomatic symptoms; Self-rated scale.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Hospitals, General*
Humans
Male
Patient Health Questionnaire
Psychometrics
Psychophysiologic Disorders* / diagnosis
Reproducibility of Results
Surveys and Questionnaires