The PANSS and other scales

PANSS

Since its publication in 1987, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) has become the primary assessment used for evaluating the symptoms of schizophrenia. The original 30-item scale is used to evaluate the presence, absence and severity of positive, negative, mood/anxiety, hostility/agitation, and disorganized thought. Derivatives of the scale, including the PANSS-6, PANSS-EC, Symptoms of Remission, and other components are also used in studies of bipolar mania, agitation in dementia, and related disorders.

The strengths of the PANSS include robust factor dimensions, sensitivity to change, the availability of detailed anchor points, and validity. The PANSS is accompanied by a semi-structured interview, the SCI-PANSS, to ensure that all content domains are covered during the interview session as well as informant/caregiver tools such as the SIG-PANSS.

For licensing and to obtain permission for use either for commercial and non-commercial purposes, please contact Mapi Research Trust. Unfunded, non-profit studies and treatment programs may be able to obtain the scale at no cost.

Licensing and further information is available here.

SCI-SR

The Structured Clinical Interview for Symptoms of Remission for the PANSS (SCI-SR) is a brief interview that may be used in research and treatment settings to assess remission based on eight PANSS items. Informant data is required to confirm functional status on 4 of the 8 items. This data may be collected from third party sources (nursing staff, families, caregivers) or provided by the clinician conducting the interview (assuming sufficient patient contact has occurred in the prior period of interest). Each item is rated using the well-validated criteria and anchoring points for each as described in the PANSS Manual©. Unlike the SCI-PANSS, the SCI-SR may be administered in approximately 15 minutes or less. Based on Andreasen et al. (2005), remission is defined as a score of 3 (Mild) or less for each item, maintained over 6 month period.

SOTS

The Symptoms of Trauma Scale (SOTS) is a 9-item 7-point rating scale that can be used to measure severity, ranging from absent to extreme, of nine symptoms previously shown to be associated with trauma. Since the SOTS is not a diagnostic interview, it cannot be used to establish a diagnosis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Complex PTSD. Rather, the SOTS it is designed to be used to complement existing systems that establish trauma history as well as diagnosis.

Ratings for nine symptoms range from: 1=Absent to 7=Extreme. Because the SOTS provides a means of rating of symptoms at seven levels of severity (absent, minimal, mild, moderate, moderate severe, severe, and extreme), the SOTS can assess changes in trauma symptoms. This will become increasingly important as new treatments, both psychosocial and pharmacological, emerge to treat PTSD and other trauma related disorders.