TEST CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HOPKINS SYMPTOM CHECK LIST-25 (HSCL-25) IN SWEDEN, USING THE PRESENT STATE EXAMINATION (PSE-9) AS A CASENESS CRITERION

The Hopkins Symptom Check List-25 (HSCL-25) is a screening instrument designed to identify common psychiatric symptoms. It has been widely u sed in different settings outside Sweden and also compared to assessme nts of psychiatric illness made by general practitioners. The aim of t he present study was to validate the HSCL-25 against a psychiatric int erview using the Present State Examination (PSE-9) in a Swedish sample of patients in general practice. Validity coefficients of the HSCL-25 were calculated for two different thresholds of caseness, greater-tha n-or-equal-to 1.55 and greater-than-or-equal-to 1.75, respectively. Wh en greater-than-or-equal-to 1.75 was chosen as a cutoff point, the val idity coefficients obtained by the HSCL-25 in this study were comparab le to those obtained in other studies.