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Screening for abnormal illness behaviour
S K Chaturvedi1, S Bhandari, M B Beena
1Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.
Psychopathology
|November 1, 1996
Summary
A new screening tool, the 11-item Screening version of the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (SIBQ), effectively identifies abnormal illness behavior in patients with somatic symptoms. It offers high sensitivity and specificity for clinical use.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychometrics
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Somatic symptoms are common in clinical practice.
- Identifying abnormal illness behavior is crucial for effective patient management.
- Existing screening tools may lack efficiency for busy clinical settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the psychometric properties of a new screening test for abnormal illness behavior.
- To introduce the Screening version of the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (SIBQ).
- To evaluate the SIBQ's utility in patients with somatic symptoms.
Main Methods:
- Developed an 11-item Screening version of the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (SIBQ) from existing scales.
- Administered the SIBQ to 78 patients with somatic complaints and 22 healthy volunteers.
- Calculated sensitivity, specificity, and hits positive rates for various cut-off scores.
Main Results:
- An optimal cut-off score of 7 was identified.
- This cut-off yielded a sensitivity of 86% and specificity of 83%.
- The hits positive rate at the optimal cut-off was 0.7537.
Conclusions:
- The SIBQ is a sensitive and specific screening instrument for abnormal illness behavior.
- The SIBQ is particularly useful for rapid screening in busy clinics.
- This tool aids in detecting probable cases of abnormal illness behavior among patients with somatic symptoms.