Psychiatry Investig.  2020 Aug;17(8):814-821. 10.30773/pi.2020.0112.

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

• Yang CM
• Hwang KS
• Lee SY
• Seo JS
• Jang SH

• KMID: 2505279
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2020.0112

Abstract

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.

Keyword

Somatic symptom, Patient Healh Questionnaire-15, Somatic Symptom Scale-8, Health anxiety