| Description: | The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) Prosocial Subscale is a 6-item, clinician-reported instrument that measures impairment in social functioning in people with schizophrenia.1-3 |
|---|---|
| Disease States: | Schizophrenia |
| Validated Uses: | Treatment Monitoring & Evaluation, Symptom Severity |
| Administration Method: | Clinician-report |
| Time to administer: | 30–40 minutes |
| Commonly used in: | Clinical Trials & Research |
| Detailed Description: | The Prosocial Subscale of the PANSS is a clinician-reported measure of social functioning that includes 6 items from the full 30-item PANSS scale.7 The PANSS is administered as a semi-structured interview. Responses from the interview are applied to the PANSS Prosocial subscale items.3 For the Prosocial Subscale, the 6 items scored from the full PANSS are: active social avoidance, emotional withdrawal, passive social withdrawal, stereotyped thinking, hallucinatory behavior, and suspiciousness/persecution.7 Each item is scored on a scale from 1 to 7 for severity, where 1 indicates absent symptoms and 7 indicates extreme severity; thus, higher scores on the subscale reflect greater social impairment (ie, more social withdrawal and a lack of social interaction).3,7 |
| Scale Validity: | An exploratory factor analysis supported the 6-item structure of the Prosocial Subscale. In that same study, the inter-rater reliability was 0.83, and the internal consistency was 0.87.2 |
| Alternative Versions: | A modified version of the Prosocial Subscale was developed that includes only 4 items from the full PANSS: active social avoidance, emotional withdrawal, passive/apathetic social withdrawal, and difficulty in abstract thinking.7 |
| Cited Limitations: | Researchers have cautioned that the structure of the Prosocial Subscale needs to be replicated in factor analyses performed in additional and diverse populations.2 Additionally, more research is needed to determine whether, and how, improvement in scores on the Prosocial subscale equates to improvements in functioning overall.7 Finally, given that the Prosocial Subscale was derived from factor analysis rather than intentionally developed to measure social functioning, findings from the subscale may differ from other clinician-rated and performance-based social skills measures.4 |
Footnotes:
Supporting references for the filters are as follows: Disease States: Schizophrenia1; Validated Uses: Symptom Prevalence & Severity, Treatment Monitoring & Evaluation2-6; Administration Method: Clinician-report3; Time to Administer: 30–40 minutes3; Commonly Used In: Clinical Practice, Clinical Trials & Research1,2,4,5,7
This resource is intended for educational purposes only and is intended for US healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals should use independent medical judgment. All decisions regarding patient care must be handled by a healthcare professional and be made based on the unique needs of each patient.
ABBV-US-01588-MC, V1.0
Approved 04/2024
AbbVie Medical Affairs