Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale

Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale
Purposemeasures severity of individuals with schizophrenia

The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is a medical scale used for measuring symptom severity of patients with schizophrenia. It was published in 1987 by Stanley Kay, Lewis Opler, and Abraham Fiszbein. It is widely used in the study of antipsychotic therapy. The scale is the "gold standard" for evaluating the effects of psychopharmacological treatments.[1][2]

The name refers to the two types of symptoms in schizophrenia, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association: positive symptoms, which refer to an excess or distortion of normal functions (e.g., hallucinations and delusions), and negative symptoms, which represent a diminution or loss of normal functions. Some of these functions which may be lost include normal thoughts, actions, ability to tell fantasies from reality, and the ability to properly express emotions.[3]

The PANSS is a relatively brief interview, requiring 45 to 50 minutes to administer.[4] The interviewer must be trained to a standardized level of reliability.[5]

  1. ^ Liechti, Stacy; Capodilupo, Gianna; Opler, Douglas J.; Opler, Mark; Yang, Lawrence H. (2017-12-01). "A Developmental History of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)". Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. 14 (11–12): 12–17. ISSN 2158-8333. PMC 5788246. PMID 29410932.
  2. ^ Opler, Mark G.A.; Yavorsky, Christian; Daniel, David G. (2017-12-01). "Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Training". Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. 14 (11–12): 77–81. ISSN 2158-8333. PMC 5788255. PMID 29410941.
  3. ^ "Mental Health and Schizophrenia". WebMD. Retrieved 2019-07-29.
  4. ^ Kay SR, Fiszbein A, Opler LA (1987). "The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia". Schizophr Bull. 13 (2): 261–76. doi:10.1093/schbul/13.2.261. PMID 3616518.
  5. ^ John Hunsley; Eric J. Mash (2008), A Guide to Assessments that Work, Oxford University Press US, ISBN 978-0-19-531064-1