Reliability and Validity of the Korean Version of Somatic Symptom Scale-8

• Published in: Psychiatry investigation Vol. 17; no. 8; pp. 814 - 821
• Main Authors: Yang, Chan-Mo, Hwang, Kyu-Sic, Lee, Sang-Yeol, Seo, Jeong Seok, Jang, Seung-Ho
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Neuropsychiatric Association 01.08.2020; 대한신경정신의학회
• Subjects: Original; 정신과학
• ISSN: 1738-3684; 1976-3026
• DOI: 10.30773/pi.2020.0112

Objective Somatic symptoms in psychiatry include underlying depression, anxiety, or other psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to conduct a validation study of a Korean version of the Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (K-SSS-8), and to utilize the K-SSS-8 effectively in clinical settings.Methods For reliabilty, test-retest reliability and internal consistency were analyzed. For construct validity, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted. Known-group validity was verified, Jonckheere-Terpstra test (J-T statistic) were used.Results Maternal Cronbach’s alpha was 0.85 and r value of test-retest reliability was 0.777. In the EFA, 2-, 3- and 4-factor model showed cumulative percentile for variance of 60% or more. In the CFA, the 3-factor model was found to be the most appropriated and simplest (χ2=10.992, df=17, CFI=1.000, TLI=1.022, RMSEA=0.000). The verifying the difference in K-SSS-8 also showed significant difference. (J-T statistic=-2.510, p<0.05).Conclusion K-SSS-8 can be useful for exploring symptoms such as panic symptoms, physical pain, and physiological symptoms experienced by patients in a short time. In addition, the K-SSS-8 is expected to be very useful for determining the current severity by using the severity categories and for establish additionally required assessment plans for depression and anxiety symptoms.