[Evaluation of auditory hallucinations: the PSYRATS scale]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychometrics
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Auditory hallucinations are a common symptom in psychiatric disorders.
• Standardized assessment tools are crucial for evaluating hallucination severity.
• Existing scales may not be available or validated in all languages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To translate and adapt theipsychRATS (Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale) for auditory hallucinations into Spanish.
• To evaluate the psychometric properties of the adapted Spanish version.

Main Methods:

• TheipsychRATS scale was translated and culturally adapted for Spanish speakers.
• The adapted scale was administered to 80 patients with a history of auditory hallucinations (71 with schizophrenia, 9 with schizoaffective disorder).
• Reliability was assessed through inter-rater agreement, and concurrent validity was examined by comparing results with the Krawiecka scale.

Main Results:

• The SpanishipsychRATS scale retained 11 items with minor modifications.
• High reliability was observed, with coefficients exceeding 0.85 for all items.
• Strong concurrent validity was demonstrated through significant association with the Krawiecka hallucination item.
• Factor analysis yielded four factors explaining 62% of the variance.

Conclusions:

• The Spanish version of theipsychRATS scale is the first of its kind for evaluating auditory hallucinations in Spanish.
• The scale exhibits excellent psychometric properties, including high reliability and validity.
• This validated tool will aid in the clinical assessment and research of auditory hallucinations in Spanish-speaking populations.