Overview :

Overall and Gorham developed the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale to evaluate the psychiatric status of a patient. It can be administered rapidly and can be used to monitor change in the patient. The authors are from Kansas State University and the Veterans Administration.

Measures (16):

(1) somatic concern: degree of concern over present bodily health

(2) anxiety: worry, fear or over-concern for present or future

(3) emotional withdrawal: deficiency relating to the interviewer and the interview situation

(4) conceptual disorganization: degree to which the thought processes are confused, disconnected or disorganized

(5) guilt feelings: over-concern or remorse for past behavior

(6) tension: physical and motor manifestation of tension, nervousness and heightened activation level

(7) mannerisms and posturing: unusual and unnatural motor behavior

(8) grandiosity: exaggerated self-opinion, conviction of unusual ability or powers

(9) depressive mood: despondency in mood, sadness

(10) hostility: animosity, contempt, belligerence, disdain for others

(11) suspiciousness: belief (delusional or otherwise) that others have malicious intent towards the patient

(12) hallucinatory behavior: perceptions without a normal external stimulus

(13) motor retardation: reduction in energy level with slow movements, speech, body tone

(14) uncooperativeness: resistance, unfriendliness, resentment and lack of readiness to cooperate

(15) unusual thought content: unusual, odd, strange or bizarre thought content

(16) blunted affect: reduced emotional tone, apparent lack of normal feeling or involvement

Each measure was evaluated using a 7 point Likert scale.

total score =

= SUM(points for all 16 measures)

Interpretation:

• minimum score: 16

• maximum score 112

• The higher the score the more severe the disorder.

• I would also summarize the number of measures at each level of the Likert scale.

Performance:

• The scale shows good inter-rater reliability (see Table 4, page 811).

Overall JE, Gorham DR. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Psychological Report. 1962; 10: 799-812. (Figure 1, page 803).