SIPS - Screening-Instrument für prämenstruelle Symptome : Die deutsche Version des Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool zur Erfassung klinisch relevanter Beschwerden

Background. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) are common, yet often remain unrecognized and not adequately treated. One reason for this is the lack of a valid German screening instrument. The aim of the present study was to create a German version of the English "Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST)" and to verify its applicability.Material and methods. The German version of the PSST was created as "Screening-Instrument fur pramenstruelle Symptome (SIPS)" and its reliability and validity determined based on data from 47 women with and without PMDD/severe PMS using Internet-based daily symptom ratings.Results. The retest reliability of the SIPS was r = 0.69, and Cronbach's alpha was 0.924. As an indicator of the convergent validity of the SIPS, there were significant differences between women with and without PMDD/severe PMS as identified by the SIPS with regard to prospectively assessed premenstrual symptomatology (F[2,44] = 4.52, p < 0.001) and symptom change (F[2,44] = 25.23, p < 0.001).Conclusions. The SIPS is reliable and valid and may help to improve the identification of women who require treatment for their premenstrual symptoms.