The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) is a rating scale which a clinician or researcher may use to measure psychiatric symptoms such as
depression,
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil
Turmoil may refer to:
* ''Turmoil'' (1984 video game), a 1984 video game released by Bug-Byte
* ''Turmoil'' (2016 video game), a 2016 indie oil tycoon video ...
,
hallucinations
A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...
and unusual behaviour. The scale is one of the oldest, most widely used scales to measure psychotic symptoms and was first published in 1962.
[Overall JE, Gorham DR (1962). The brief psychiatric rating scale. Psychological Reports 1962 vol. 10, pp799-812]
History
The BPRS was initially developed by John E. Overall and Donald R. Gorham. It was created for the purpose of being able to quickly assess the patient’s psychiatric symptoms prior, during, or following a treatment. The items of the test were generated from conducting factor analysis on the Multidimensional Scale for Rating Psychiatric Patients and the Inpatient Multidimensional Psychiatric Scale. Sixteen factors were found from the analysis, which served as the building blocks for the BPRS.
Later research in 1968 added two more factors to the BPRS, which were excitement and disorientation.
Test format
The BPRS consists of 18 items measuring the following factors: (1)
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil
Turmoil may refer to:
* ''Turmoil'' (1984 video game), a 1984 video game released by Bug-Byte
* ''Turmoil'' (2016 video game), a 2016 indie oil tycoon video ...
, (2) emotional withdrawal, (3) conceptual disorganization, (4)
guilt feelings, (5) tension, (6) mannerisms and posturing, (7)
grandiosity
In the field of psychology, the term grandiosity refers to an unrealistic sense of superiority, characterized by a sustained view of one's self as better than others, which is expressed by disdainfully criticising them (contempt), overinflating ...
, (8)
depressive moods, (9)
hostility
Hostility is seen as form of emotionally charged aggressive behavior. In everyday speech it is more commonly used as a synonym for anger and aggression.
It appears in several psychological theories. For instance it is a facet of neuroticism in ...
, (10) suspiciousness, (11)
hallucinatory behavior, (12) motor hyperactivity, (13) uncooperativeness, (14) unusual thought content, (15)
blunted affect, (16) somatic concern, (17) excitement, and (18) disorientation. It uses a seven-item Likert scale with the following values: 1 = “not present”, 2 = “very mild”, 3 = “mild”, 4 = “moderate”, 5 = “moderately severe”, 6 = “severe”, 7 = “extremely severe”. The test is administered in tandem with a series of interviews conducted by at least two clinicians to ensure interrater reliability of the assessment.
Usage
The BPRS is intended for use on adult psychiatric patients and has been validated for use in elderly populations.
A version designed for children called the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Children was also developed by Overall and
Betty Pfefferbaum, with different scale structures and factors.
Further development
An expanded version of the test was created in 1993 by D. Lukoff, Keith H. Nuechterlein, and Joseph Ventura.
See also
*
Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". In systems enginee ...
*
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
*
Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS)
*
Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS)
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
BPRS online tool
Commentary on the BPRS by John Overall in 1978 at Citation ClassicsLink to first page of the original paper(Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click summary)
Global screening and assessment tools in psychiatry
Psychosis screening and assessment tools