SynthesisBMC psychiatry2011
Is the PANSS used correctly? a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC psychiatry, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06856161 (A Novel Blood Test as a Differential Diagnosis and Drug Efficacy Biomarker in Mental Health), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Novel Blood Test as a Differential Diagnosis and Drug Efficacy Biomarker in Mental Health
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- EPA guidance on assessment of negative symptoms in schizophrenia.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2021Pooled it
- Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: Treatment Response and Resistance in Psychosis (TRRIP) Working Group Consensus Guidelines on Diagnosis and Terminology.The American journal of psychiatry · 2017Pooled it
- Long-acting antipsychotic drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia: use in daily practice from naturalistic observations.BMC psychiatry · 2012Pooled it
- Relationships between early age at onset of psychotic symptoms and treatment resistant schizophrenia.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2022Trial
- Linking PANSS negative symptom scores with the Clinical Global Impressions Scale: understanding negative symptom scores in schizophrenia.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Influence of ANKK1 and DRD2 polymorphisms in response to haloperidol.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2013Trial
- Smoking and its associations with metabolic indices, clinical symptoms, and cognitive functioning in schizophrenia.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Peripheral complement C3 and C4 are associated with clinical features of schizophrenia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Diagnostic digital phenotyping in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: a systematic review.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Article
- A generalisability theory approach to quantifying changes in psychopathology among ultra-high-risk individuals for psychosis.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Cytokine alterations in CSF and serum samples of patients with a first episode of schizophrenia: results and methodological considerations.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
- Altered Patterns of Brain Glucose Metabolism Involve More Extensive and Discrete Cortical Areas in Treatment-resistant Schizophrenia Patients Compared to Responder Patients and Controls: Results From a Head-to-Head 2-[18F]-FDG-PET Study.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2023Article
- DNA methylation levels of RELN promoter region in ultra-high risk, first episode and chronic schizophrenia cohorts of schizophrenia.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2022Article
- Lower Vitamin C Levels Are Associated With Less Improvement in Negative Symptoms in Initially Antipsychotic-Naïve Patients With First-Episode Psychosis.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Article
- Amisulpride Augmentation of Clozapine in Clozapine-Resistant Schizophrenia: A Case Series.The Canadian journal of hospital pharmacy · 2022Article
- Attachment Style and Insight in Schizophrenia: a Cross-Sectional Study.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2020Article
- Defining Treatment Response, Remission, Relapse, and Recovery in First-Episode Psychosis: A Survey among Korean Experts.Psychiatry investigation · 2020Article
- Examination and Comparison of Cognitive and Executive Functions in Clinically Stable Schizophrenia Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.Depression research and treatment · 2020Article
- Bifactor Modeling of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale: Generalized Psychosis Spans Schizoaffective, Bipolar, and Schizophrenia Diagnoses.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) is one of the most important rating instruments for patients with schizophrenia. Nevertheless, there is a long and ongoing debate in the psychiatric community regarding its mathematical properties.All 30 items range from 1 to 7 leading to a minimum total score of 30, implying that the PANSS is an interval scale. For such interval scales straightforward calculation of relative changes is not appropriate. To calculate outcome criteria based on a percent change as, e.g., the widely accepted response criterion, the scale has to be transformed into a ratio scale beforehand. Recent publications have already pointed out the pitfall that ignoring the scale level (interval vs. ratio scale) leads to a set of mathematical problems, potentially resulting in erroneous results concerning the efficacy of the treatment.
methodsA Pubmed search based on the PRISMA statement of the highest-ranked psychiatric journals (search terms "PANSS" and "response") was carried out. All articles containing percent changes were included and methods of percent change calculation were analysed.
resultsThis systematic literature research shows that the majority of authors (62%) actually appear to use incorrect calculations. In most instances the method of calculation was not described in the manuscript.
conclusionsThese alarming results underline the need for standardized procedures for PANSS calculations.
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