The Somatic Symptom Scale–8 (SSS-8)

Somatic symptoms are the core features of many medical diseases, and they are used to evaluate the severity and course of illness. The 8-item Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) was recently developed as a brief, patient-reported outcome measure of somatic symptom burden, but its reliability, validity, and usefulness have not yet been tested.

To investigate the reliability, validity, and severity categories as well as the reference scores of the SSS-8. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A national, representative general-population survey was performed between June 15, 2012, and July 15, 2012, in Germany, including 2510 individuals older than 13 years. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The SSS-8 mean (SD), item-total correlations, Cronbach α, factor structure, associations with measures of construct validity (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 scale, visual analog scale for general health status, 12-month health care use), severity categories, and percentile rank reference scores.