title: Properties of the Symptom Check List (SCL-90-R) in a psychosomatic consultation-liaison setting.
abstract: The present study aimed to assess the effect of psychological screening of medical inpatients using the Symptom Check List, SCL-90-R. A sample of 630 medical inpatients who were referred to a psychosomatic consultation-liaison service was assessed using the SCL-90-R. A clinical interview was conducted with all assessed patients. Patients referred to the consultation-liaison service showed high psychological distress. 73% of the subjects were classed as cases using the International Classification of Diseases (10th Revision) criteria and psychological impairment. The screening characteristics of the SCL-90-R were not as good as those reported for other outpatient samples. The SCL-90-R appears to have been valuable for the consultation-liaison service since subjects with mental disorders scored significantly higher on almost all the scales than subjects without mental disorders. The questionnaire can serve as a useful tool for understanding patients' current status regarding mental health problems.
authors.affiliation: Clinic and Institute for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany. schmitzn@uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hartkamp
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franz
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Buse
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Karig
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tress
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires