The validation of the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale to Spanish. Argentinian version

Abstract

Objective: The present study aims to validate the Spanish version of the Bush Francis Catatonia Rating Scale (BFCRS).

Material and methods: The original scale in English was adapted into Spanish (Argentina) by 2 translators. Diagnostic and Psychometric properties of both subscales (the 14 signs screening tool and the 23 signs of the BFCRS) were assessed in inpatients (n=42. 24 catatonic and 18 non-catatonic), of a University Hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Patients were previously evaluated for catatonia using DSM-5 criteria and then were appraised with the Spanish version of BFCRS.

Results: Using BFCSI and BFCRS, clinical discrimination between catatonic and non-catatonic patients showed significant difference. Kappa interrater agreement was obtained with different cut-off values. When using a cut-off value ≥ 2 (suggested by the original authors) Kappa index was 0,6202. With cut-off values ≥3 and ≥4 Kappa indexes were 0,95 and 0,81 respectively. A BFCSI cut-off value ≥ 3, an instrument sensitivity of 83,33% and a specificity of 88,89, was achieved, using DSM-5 criteria as referenced test. A cut-off ≥ 3 has and exact value of ROC AREA of 0,8611 (+- 0,0544);CI95%:(0,75444-0,96778). BFCRS (23 signs) showed a Rho spearman´s correlation of 0,9443. In addition, DSM-5 and BFCSI showed a Rho Spearman´s correlation of 0,8002.

Conclusion: Like the original version, the Argentinian Spanish version of BFCRS shows high validity, reliability, and inter-rater reliability indexes for detecting cases of catatonia.