PubMed · 2684084
The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. I. Development, use, and reliability.
Abstract
The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale was designed to remedy the problems of existing rating scales by providing a specific measure of the severity of symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder that is not influenced by the type of obsessions or compulsions present. The scale is a clinician-rated, 10-item scale, each item rated from 0 (no symptoms) to 4 (extreme symptoms) (total range, 0 to 40), with separate subtotals for severity of obsessions and compulsions. In a study involving four raters and 40 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder at various stages of treatment, interrater reliability for the total Yale-Brown Scale score and each of the 10 individual items was excellent, with a high degree of internal consistency among all item scores demonstrated with Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Based on pretreatment assessment of 42 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, each item was frequently endorsed and measured across a range of severity. These findings suggest that the Yale-Brown Scale is a reliable instrument for measuring the severity of illness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder with a range of severity and types of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
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W K Goodman, L H Price, S A Rasmussen, C Mazure, R L Fleischmann, C L Hill, G R Heninger, D S Charney. 1989. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. I. Development, use, and reliability.. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1989.01810110048007
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