[Inter-observer reliability of negative schizophrenic symptoms]

The interrater reliability of negative symptoms was measured in 30 DSM-III-R schizophrenic patients. The negative symptoms were assessed using the Scale of Emotional Blunting (SEB) of Abrams y Taylor, the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) of Andreasen and the negative symptoms of Landmark's Manual for the Assessment of Schizophrenia (MAE). The interrater reliability of negative symptoms measured using the SEB and SANS scales was good or excellent, while the reliability of the MAE was moderate. The results point out that the negative schizophrenic symptoms can be reliably measured when operative criteria are employed.