International journal of hygiene and environmental health
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Int J Hyg Environ Health · Jan 2016
Assessing non-specific symptoms in epidemiological studies: Development and validation of the Symptoms and Perceptions (SaP) questionnaire.
To describe the development of the Symptoms and Perceptions (SaP) questionnaire, a new instrument measuring diversity and severity features and related perceptions of non-specific (physical and psychological) symptoms (NSS) and to test its reliability and validity within an epidemiological setting. ⋯ The SaP questionnaire is a reliable and valid self-reported measure of diverse features of NSS and corresponding perceptions. It can also be a useful tool for the identification of multiple somatic symptoms and related disorders in general practice and assessment of psychological problems in epidemiological studies. Further validation of the questionnaire in different samples and settings will establish the promising psychometric properties demonstrated in the present study.