Reliability of measuring anomalous experience: the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms.
BACKGROUND
Studying subjective experience, apart from preformed self-rating questionnaires, has nearly vanished in psychiatry, partly due to reliability concerns. Recent research in early detection of schizophrenia has entailed an increasing interest in the subtle experiential anomalies that may assist in identifying the patients at risk of psychosis. Some of these anomalies are described in the Bonn Scale for the Assessment of Basic Symptoms (BSABS). We examined the reliability of this instrument.


METHODS
18 hospitalised patients accepted to participate in a psychopathological interview assessing BSABS items, affective and psychotic symptoms.


RESULTS
Out of the total 79 BSABSitems examined,we found an interrater reliability kappa >0.60 in 68 items (86%).


CONCLUSIONS
Good reliability can be achieved using BSABS.
Danish National Research Foundation, Centre for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Anne.Vollmer-Larsen@hh.hosp.dk
Anne
A
Vollmer-Larsen
Peter
P
Handest
Josef
J
Parnas
D000328:Adult; D003702:Delusions / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012569:Schizotypal Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology