Dokuz Eylül thought disorder assessment scale: A reliability and validity study

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Existing thought disorder (TD) scales for schizophrenia are limited, focusing only on positive and negative dimensions.
• Current TD assessment methods are often time-consuming and require specialized tools or lengthy interviews.
• A need exists for a comprehensive TD scale suitable for routine psychiatric interviews.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Dokuz Eylül Thought Disorder Scale (DEU-TDS).
• To assess the reliability and validity of the DEU-TDS for evaluating TD in schizophrenia patients.
• To provide a more comprehensive measure of TD during standard psychiatric assessments.

Main Methods:

• The study involved 130 schizophrenia patients and 35 controls.
• Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α, test-retest, and inter-rater analyses.
• Validity was examined via exploratory factor analysis and correlations with established scales (PANSS, SAPS, TLI).

Main Results:

• The DEU-TDS demonstrated excellent inter-rater reliability (Pearson r = 0.987, ICC = 0.985).
• Exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure (Positive TD, Negative TD, Pragmatic Comprehension Disorder), explaining 73.2% of the variance.
• Strong correlations were observed between the DEU-TDS and established measures.

Conclusions:

• The DEU-TDS shows promising psychometric properties as a multidimensional tool for assessing TD in schizophrenia.
• The scale appears suitable for use in routine psychiatric interviews.
• Further validation in larger, diverse samples is recommended to confirm clinical utility.