Psychosis risk screening with the Prodromal Questionnaire--brief version (PQ-B)

Abstract

In this study, we examined the preliminary concurrent validity of a brief version of the Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-B), a self-report screening measure for psychosis risk syndromes. Adolescents and young adults (N=141) who presented consecutively for clinical assessment to one of two early psychosis research clinics at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Los Angeles completed the PQ-B and the Structured Interview for Prodromal Syndromes (SIPS) at intake. Endorsement of three or more positive symptoms on the PQ-B differentiated between those with prodromal syndrome and psychotic syndrome diagnoses on the SIPS versus those with no SIPS diagnoses with 89% sensitivity, 58% specificity, and a positive Likelihood Ratio of 2.12. A Distress Score measuring the distress or impairment associated with endorsed positive symptoms increased the specificity to 68%, while retaining similar sensitivity of 88%. Agreement was very similar when participants with psychotic syndromes were excluded from the analyses. These results suggest that the PQ-B may be used as an effective, efficient self-report screen for prodromal psychosis syndromes when followed by diagnostic interview, in a two-stage evaluation process in help-seeking populations.

Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Figures

Figure 1

Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve of PQ-B scores predicting SIPS diagnosis of prodromal/psychotic syndrome versus no SIPS diagnosis.

Figure 2

PQ-B scores of Total symptoms endorsed by SIPS diagnostic group.

Figure 3

PQ-B scores of weighted Distress by SIPS diagnostic group.