IMPROVEMENT OF INTERRATER RELIABILITY OF PANSS ITEMS AND SUBSCALES BYA STANDARDIZED RATER TRAINING

The present evaluation focused on the inter-rater reliability of singl e items and subscales of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PAN SS) before and after a standardized rater training. The results of two independent studies comprising n=23 (study I) and n=12 (study II) psy chiatrists and videotaped interviews with schizophrenic patients were analysed. Chance-corrected coefficients of rating agreement with exper t standards (weighted kappa) were computed for single items and subsca les of the PANSS. The results dearly demonstrate the importance of rat er trainings. After three training sessions, 90% of the PANSS items re ached an acceptable level of reliability (kappa(W)>0.40) in both evalu ated studies, and for 80% of the PANSS items values of kappa(W)>0.60 w ere achieved.