Standardized training in the rating of the six-item Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-6)

Abstract

The six-item Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS-6) allows for a brief assessment of the severity of core symptoms of schizophrenia. However, implementing the PANSS-6 in clinical practice requires that staff members' ratings are accurate and reliable. We aimed to investigate whether such accuracy and reliability can be obtained via a brief video-based training program. One-hundred-and-four staff members from a psychiatric hospital in Denmark participated in the training. Participants performed a baseline PANSS-6 rating based on a video of a patient being interviewed using the Simplified positive And Negative Symptoms interview (SNAPSI). Subsequently, a theoretical introduction video was displayed followed by five successive videotaped SNAPSI patient interviews. After each SNAPSI video, individual ratings were conducted before a video providing the gold standard rating was displayed. The accuracy of ratings was estimated by calculating the proportion of participants not deviating from the gold standard rating with >2 points on individual items or >6 points on the PANSS-6 total score. Reliability was tested after each step in the training by means of Gwet's Agreement Coefficient (Gwet). By the end of the training, 72% of the participants rated within the acceptable deviations of the gold standard, ranging from 60% (nurses) to 91% (medical doctors & psychologists). The reliability improved (Gwet baseline vs. endpoint) for all PANSS-6 items, except for Blunted affect. In conclusion, the majority of the staff members conducted accurate PANSS-6 ratings after a brief standardized training program, supporting the implementation of PANSS-6 in clinical settings to facilitate measurement-based care.