[The PANSS (Positive And Negative Symptom) Scale]

The PANSS scale, first proposed by Kay et al. (1987) and translated into French is an evaluation scale of 30 disparate items scored from 1 to 7 for psychopathological symptoms observed in patients presenting psychotic syndromes, especially schizophrenic states. A semi-structured interview (translated into French by J.P. Lindenmayer) and precise definition of the different degrees of symptomatic, severity make it possible to obtain satisfactory between-assessor and test-retest fidelity. Three scores obtained with this evaluation tool are generally calculated for evaluating three dimensions of the syndrome: positive, negative and general psychopathology, as part of a categorial or dimensional perspective. The main studies validating the PANSS scale have involved several factorial analyses and comparison with data obtained using other schizophrenia scales such as Nancy Andreasen's SANS and SAPS scales. The three main factors isolated correspond to the clinical dimensions: positive, negative and "disorganization". Currently, the PANSS scale is being used increasingly more often. It allows study of the symptomatic profile in a wide population of psychotic patients and evaluation of the prognostic influence of positive and negative dimensions. It does however appear to be susceptible to change. Recent research projects are attempting to confirm initial findings and to analyse the general relevance of the reference conceptual model used by the authors.