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[Sensitivity and specificity of the Overt Aggression Scale in schizophrenic patients]
A Fresán1, R Apiquian, C de la Fuente-Sandoval
1Subdirección de Investigaciones Clínicas, Instituto Nacional de Psiquitría Ramón de la Fuente, Mexico. fresan@imp.edu.mx
Introduction:
Research focused on the assessment of violent behavior in schizophrenic patients has been hindered by the lack of clinical instruments adapted to the Mexican psychiatric population. This study aimed to obtain sensitivity and specificity data as well as the most adequate cutoff point of the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS).
Method:
137 schizophrenic patients were included. A clinical evaluation was performed with the PANSS subscale of excitability and the OAS. Diagnosis of violent behavior was obtained with the PANSS and clinical consensus of two psychiatrists.
Results:
66.4% of the sample was considered as nonviolent patients. A cutoff point of 7 points in the OAS showed sensitivity of 0.80 and specificity of 0.97, with adequate positive and negative predictive power.
Discussion:
The objective assessment of violent behavior in schizophrenic patients can contribute to the development of new lines of research. Adaptation of the OAS for the assessment of violent behavior will encourage the development of better strategies for the detection and intervention of violent behavior in schizophrenia.