Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia

When to Use

Positive Scale

Delusions

Beliefs which are unfounded, unrealistic, and idiosyncratic

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Conceptual disorganization

Disorganized process of thinking characterized by disruption of goal-directed sequencing

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Hallucinatory behavior

Verbal report or behavior indicating perceptions which are not generated by external stimuli

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Excitement

Hyperactivity as reflected in accelerated motor behavior, heightened responsivity to stimuli, hypervigilance, or excessive mood lability

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Grandiosity

Exaggerated self-opinion and unrealistic convictions of superiority, including delusions of extraordinary abilities, wealth, knowledge, fame, power, and moral righteousness

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Suspiciousness

Unrealistic or exaggerated ideas of persecution, as reflected in guardedness, distrustful attitude, suspicious hypervigilance, or frank delusions that others mean harm

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Hostility

Verbal and nonverbal expressions of anger and resentment, including sarcasm, passive-aggressive behavior, verbal abuse, and assaultiveness

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Negative Scale

Blunted affect

Diminished emotional responsiveness as characterized by a reduction in facial expression, modulation of feelings, and communicative gestures

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Emotional withdrawal

Lack of interest in, involvement with, and affective commitment to life’s events

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Poor rapport

Lack of interpersonal empathy, openness in conversation, and sense of closeness, interest, or involvement with the interviewer

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Passive-apathetic social withdrawal

Diminished interest and initiative in social interactions due to passivity, apathy, anergy, or avolition

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Difficulty in abstract thinking

Impairment in the use of the abstract-symbolic mode of thinking, as evidenced by difficulty in classification, forming generalizations, and proceeding beyond concrete or egocentric thinking in problem-solving tasks

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Lack of spontaneity and flow of conversation

Reduction in the normal flow of communication associated with apathy, avolition, defensiveness, or cognitive deficit

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Stereotyped thinking

Decreased fluidity, spontaneity, and flexibility of thinking, as evidenced in rigid, repetitious, or barren thought content

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

General Psychopathology Scale

Somatic concern

Physical complaints or beliefs about bodily illness or malfunctions

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Anxiety

Subjective experience of nervousness, worry, apprehension, or restlessness, ranging from excessive concern to feelings of panic about the present or future

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Guilt feelings

Sense of remorse or self-blame for real or imagined misdeeds in the past

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Tension

Overt physical manifestations of fear, anxiety, and agitation, such as stiffness, tremor, profuse sweating, and restlessness

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Mannerisms and posturing

Unnatural movements or posture as characterized be an awkward, stilted, disorganized, or bizarre appearance

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Depression

Feelings of sadness, discouragement, helplessness, and pessimism

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Motor retardation

Reduction in motor activity as reflected in slowing or lessening of movements and speech, diminished responsiveness of stimuli, and reduced body tone

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Uncooperativeness

Active refusal to comply with the will of significant others, including the interviewer, hospital staff or family, which may be associated with distrust, defensiveness, stubbornness, negativism, rejection of authority, hostility, or belligerence

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Unusual thought content

Thinking characterized by strange, fantastic, or bizarre ideas, ranging from those which are remote or atypical to those which are distorted, illogical, and patently absurd

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Disorientation

Lack of awareness of one’s relationship to the milieu, including persons, place, and time, which may be due to confusion or withdrawal

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Poor attention

Failure in focused alertness manifested by poor concentration, distractibility from internal and external stimuli, and difficulty in harnessing, sustaining, or shifting focus to new stimuli

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Lack of judgement and insight

Impaired awareness or understanding of one’s own psychiatric condition and life situation

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Disturbance of volition

Disturbance in the wilful initiation, sustenance, and control of one’s thoughts, behavior, movements, and speech

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Poor impulse control

Disordered regulation and control of action on inner urges, resulting in sudden, unmodulated, arbitrary, or misdirected discharge of tension and emotions without concern about consequences

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Preoccupation

Absorption with internally generated thoughts and feelings and with autistic experiences to the detriment of reality orientation and adaptive behavior

Absent

Minimal

Mild

Moderate

Moderate-severe

Severe

Extreme

Active social avoidance

Diminished social involvement associated with unwarranted fear, hostility, or distrust

Result:

Please fill out required fields.

Next Steps

Evidence

Creator Insights

Dr. Stanley R. Kay

About the Creator

Stanley R. Kay, PhD, (d. 1990) was a research psychologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. He was chief of the schizophrenia research program in the Department of Psychiatry at the medical school and director of physiological research at the Bronx Psychiatric Center. Dr. Kay’s primary research focused on schizophrenia with special emphasis on phenomenological and therapeutic studies.

To view Dr. Stanley R. Kay's publications, visit PubMed

Related Calcs

Have feedback about this calculator?

About the Creator: Dr. Stanley R. Kay

Also from MDCalc...
Related Calcs: Villalta Score
Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) Grading
PEG Scale

Calc Function

Disease

Specialty

Chief Complaint

Organ System

Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia

Result:

About the Creator

Calc Function

Disease

Specialty

Chief Complaint

Organ System

Log In

Forgot Password?

Sign In Required

Already have an MDCalc account?

Login to link your favorites and recently used calcs

Attention COACH STUDY participants:

Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) for Schizophrenia

Result:

About the Creator