[SIPS--screening instrument for premenstrual symptoms. The German version of Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool to assess clinically relevant disturbances]

Abstract

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 für prämenstruelle 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.