Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms

The Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) is a rating scale to measure positive symptoms in schizophrenia. The scale was developed by Nancy Andreasen and was first published in 1984. SAPS is split into 4 domains, and within each domain separate symptoms are rated from 0 (absent) to 5 (severe). The scale is closely linked to the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) which was published a few years earlier.

Items

Hallucinations

• Auditory Hallucinations
• Voices Commenting
• Voices Conversing
• Somatic or Tactile Hallucinations
• Olfactory Hallucinations
• Visual Hallucinations
• Global Rating of Severity of Hallucinations

Delusions

• Persecutory Delusions
• Delusions of Jealousy
• Delusions of Sin or Guilt
• Grandiose Delusions
• Religious Delusions
• Somatic Delusions
• Ideas and Delusions of Reference
• Delusions of Being Controlled
• Delusions of Mind Reading
• Thought Broadcasting
• Thought Insertion
• Thought Withdrawal
• Global Rating of Severity of Delusions

Bizarre Behaviour

• Clothing and Appearance
• Social and Sexual Behavior
• Aggressive and Agitated Behavior
• Repetitive or Stereotyped Behavior
• Global Rating of Severity of Bizarre Behavior

Positive Formal Thought Disorder

• Derailment (Loose Associations)
• Tangentiality
• Incoherence (Word Salad, Schizophasia)
• Illogicality
• Circumstantiality
• Pressure of Speech
• Distractible Speech
• Clanging
• Global Rating of Positive Formal Thought Disorder

See also

• Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
• Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)
• Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS)
• Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry

References

Andreasen NC: Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) . Iowa City, University of Iowa, 1984;