Brief Symptom Inventory 18

Cancer survivors: (Recklitis, 2017; n = 250; Mean age = 29.45 (9.77)

• Global Severity Index sub-scale t-score cutoff: > 50 recommended as optimal for identifying survivors with significant psychological distress.

 

Cancer survivors: (Zabora, 2001; n=1543; Mean age 55.5 +/- 14.5 (range= 14-90 years)

• Global Severity Index sub-scale t-score cutoff: > 57 case rule optimal for identifying significant psychological symptoms in a group of pediatric and adult cancer patients    

Cancer survivors: (Recklitis, 2017; n = 250; Mean age = 29.45 (9.77)

BSI-18 Global Severity Index t-scores       GSI t-score < 50 163 65.2   GSI t-score 50 – 56 43 17.2   GSI t-score 57 – 62 20 8.0   GSI t-score ≥ 63 24 9.6

 

Breast cancer survivors: (Galdón, 2008; n = 175; Mean age= 52.7 (10.12)

Mean (S.D.) and item–total scale correlation for items in three BSI-18 dimensions (N=175)

  Mean (S.D.) Item–total scale correlation Factor I: somatization dimension 4.62 (4.26)    1. Faintness or dizziness 0.50 (1.03) .42  4. Pain on heart or chest 0.91 (1.24) .38  7. Nausea or upset stomach 0.90 (1.33) .42  10. Trouble getting one's breath 0.50 (1.06) .25  13. Numbness or tingling in parts of one's body 1.01 (1.29) .30  16. Feeling weak in parts of one's body 0.77 (1.25) .37 Factor II: depression dimension 4.68 (4.60)    2. Feeling no interest in things 0.80 (1.36) .38  5. Feeling lonely 0.71 (1.34) .51  8. Feeling blue 2.04 (1.44) .53  11. Feeling worthless 0.17 (0.66) .63  14. Feeling hopeless about the future 0.85 (1.33) .55  17. Thoughts of ending one's life 0.13 (0.58) .26 Factor III: anxiety dimension 7.27 (5.10)    3. Nervousness or shakiness inside (GA) 2.62 (1.31) .63  6. Feeling tense or keyed up (GA) 1.85 (1.60) .69  15. Feeling so restless that one could not sit still (GA) 0.86 (1.41) .37  9. Suddenly scared for no reason (P) 0.85 (1.36) .37  12. Spells of terror or panic (P) 0.10 (0.48) .26  18. Feeling fearful (P) 1.01 (1.47) .42 General distress 16.64 (10.96)  

P=item with saturation in the panic factor in the empirical model; GA=item with saturation in the general anxiety factor in the empirical model.

Cancer survivors: (Zabora, 2001; n=1543; Mean age 55.5 +/- 14.5 (range= 14-90 years)

• Excellent internal consistency α = 0.89

 

Breast cancer survivors: (Galdón, 2008; n = 175; Mean age= 52.7 (10.12)

• Adequate Somatization sub-scale: α = .62
• Adequate Depression sub-scale: α = .73
• Adequate  Anxiety sub-scale: α = .72

 

Parkinson ’s disease:  (Carrozzino, 2019; n = 472; Mean age = 65.2 (10.3)) years, 60% male)

Mean (sd) for the individual subscales and the corresponding effect size.

BSI-18 subscales Italian PD-patients N = 472 Italian general population N = 333 Effect size Depression-6 0.95 (0.79) 0.50 (0.57) 0.64 Anxiety-6 0.95 (0.73) 0.49 (0.54) 0.70 Somatization-6 0.99 (0.64) 0.41 (0.52) 0.98 GSI-18 0.97 (0.61) 0.47 (0.46) 0.90 SCL-90-R subscales        Phobic anxiety-7 0.63 (0.64) 0.14 (0.29) 0.93  Somatization-12 1.16 (0.64) 0.54 (0.52) 1.04  Psychoticism-10 0.60 (0.52) 0.26 (0.35) 0.74

Abbreviations throughout the table. BSI-18 = Brief Symptom Inventory. GSI-18 = Global Severity Index.

Parkinson ’s disease: (Abraham, 2017; n = 1067; Mean age = 65.3 (10.85), 61.8% male)

 

Transformation to normalized T-scores including cut off for ≥63 as well as ≥65 to indicate percentage of symptoms of psychological distress in PD patients (N = 472). Prevalence in percent.

BSI-18 subscales

Study by Abraham et al. (2017) N = 1067

T-scores

Prevalence %

≥63

Depression-6

50.8

15.4%

Anxiety-6

52.1

15.0%

Somatization-6

54.6

22.5%

GSI-18

53.4

18.7%

 

 

 

Parkinson ’s disease:  (Carrozzino, 2019; n = 472; Mean age = 65.2 (10.3)) years, 60% male)

• Effect size: (>/+ 0.8 is significant)

 

Transformation to normalized T-scores including cut off for ≥63 as well as ≥65 to indicate percentage of symptoms of psychological distress in PD patients (N = 472). Prevalence in percent.

BSI-18 subscales

Present study PD patients = 472

T-scores

Prevalence %

≥63

≥65

Depression-6

56.7

27.5%

22.0%

Anxiety-6

57.3

29.6%

23.3%

Somatization-6

61.8

47.7%

38.8%

GSI-18

59.5

36.4%

28.4%

SCL-90-R subscales

     

 Phobic anxiety-7

64.4

55.5%

55.5%

 Somatization-12

61.6

45.1%

36.2%

 Psychoticism-10

59.5

36.9%

29.9%

Abbreviations throughout the table. BSI-18 = Brief Symptom Inventory. GSI-18 = Global Severity Index.

NA = Not Available. PD = Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson ’s disease:  (Carrozzino, 2019; n = 472; Mean age = 65.2 (10.3)) years, 60% male)

Effect size: (>/+ 0.8 is significant)

• Somatization-6: 0.98

• Depression-6: 0.64

• Anxiety-6: 0.70

• GSI-18: 0.90

 

Elderly community-based adults in Germany: (Petrowski, 2018); n=884; Mean Age= 70.75 (7.08); age range =60-95 years

Items

M (SD)

Scale 1: Somatization (ω = .826)

∑2.36 ± 3.07

1 Faintness or dizziness

0.31 ± 0.62

4 Pains in heart or chest

0.41 ± 0.70

7 Nausea or upset stomach

0.34 ± 0.66

10 Trouble getting your breath

0.39 ± 0.72

13 Numbness or tingling in parts of your body

0.34 ± 0.69

16 Feeling weak in parts of your body

0.57 ± 0.82

Scale 2: Depression (ω = .890)

∑2.04 ± 3.34

2 Feeling no interest in things

0.42 ± 0.73

5 Feeling lonely

0.55 ± 0.92

8 Feeling blue

0.34 ± 0.72

11 Feelings of worthlessness

0.27 ± 0.65

14 Feeling hopeless about the future

0.38 ± 0.79

17 Thoughts of ending your life

0.08 ± 0.34

Scale 3: Anxiety (ω = .857)

∑1.55 ± 2.72

3 Nervousness or shakiness inside

0.31 ± 0.62

6 Feeling tense or keyed up

0.45 ± 0.74

9 Suddenly scared for no reason

0.23 ± 0.57

12 Spells of terror or panic

0.13 ± 0.43

15 Feeling so restless you could not sit still

0.23 ± 0.61

18 Feeling fearful

0.21 ± 0.55

Global Severity Index (ω = .929)

∑5.96 ± 8.08

 

Elderly community-based adults in Germany: (Petrowski, 2018); n=884; Mean Age= 70.75 (7.08); age range =60-95 years

• Adequate to Excellent Test retest-reliability: r = .68 - .82

Elderly community-based adults in Germany: (Petrowski, 2018); n=884; Mean Age= 70.75 (7.08); age range =60-95 years

• α = .82 for somatization, α=.87 for depression, α= .84 for anxiety and α= .93 for the GSI

 

Random sample of German Citizens: (Franke, 2017; n = 2516; Mean Age= 50.5 (18.6)

• Adequate to Excellent test-retest reliability: r = .68 - .82

Random sample of German Citizens: (Franke, 2017; n = 2516; Mean Age= 50.5 (18.6)

• Excellent Internal consistency
  • Somatization α =  .82 
  • Depression α =  .87
  • Anxiety α =  .84
  • GSI α =  .93