Assessing negative symptoms of schizophrenia in the context of remote independent ratings: a psychometric evaluation of BNSS and PANSS

Previous traditional psychometric validation studies have demonstrated that the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) have satisfactory psychometric properties in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of the current study is to expand this literature by evaluating the psychometric properties of both scales in a large, multicenter, multicultural, randomized control clinical trial in patients with schizophrenia with predominantly negative symptoms. The current study employs independent ratings, in which raters are blinded from the study protocol and administer both scales via videoconference. The BNSS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93). The results of discriminant and concurrent validity analyses supported the construct validity of the assessment. The exploratory factor analysis of the PANSS identified five distinct factors. Overall, BNSS and PANSS demonstrate good psychometric properties that are comparable to previous findings that were derived from traditional psychometric studies, typically conducted at a single site and utilizing face-to-face ratings. Our findings suggest that negative symptoms of schizophrenia can validly be measured using the BNSS and PANSS via remote methods.