On somatic symptoms measurement: The scale for assessment of somatic symptoms revisited

Abstract

Background: Scale for assessment of somatic symptoms (SASS) has been widely used for assessing somatic complaints since many years. With impending changes in the classificatory system on somatoform disorders, we re- assessed the test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability of SASS. Materials and Methods: SASS was administered twice with a gap of 24 h on 20 subjects for test retest reliability. Two clinicians assessed inter-rater reliability on 20 subjects. Kendall tau B and Cronbach′s alpha were calculated from the data. Results: All of the items except burning sensation, weakness of mind and trembling had strong correlation with values >±0.40 on both test retest and inter-rater reliability; burning sensation and trembling were not reported by any subject. On inter-rater reliability the items constipation, diarrhea, lack of libido weren′t scored by any subjects. Cronbach′s alpha for test retest was 0.982 and 0.840 indicating good internal consistency. Conclusion: Majority of the symptoms in SASS had high correlation in both test retest reliability as well as inter-rater reliability, however few items needs revision.

Keywords

• Reliability
• scale for assessment of somatic symptoms
• somatic symptoms