Psychometric Properties of the Scale for Subjective Somatic and Cognitive Complaints of Psychotropic Medication Adult-Aged-Spectrum (SCOPA)

OBJECTIVE: Patient-reported side-effect questionnaires contribute to balanced decisions regarding treatment strategy among patients with mental health disorders. However, current side-effect questionnaires are less suitable for older adults because they often lack age-specific side effects. Therefore, the Scale for Subjective Somatic and Cognitive Complaints of Psychotropic Medication Adult-Aged-Spectrum (SCOPA) was developed to quantify psychotropic side effects across the full adult age spectrum. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate the reliability and validity of the SCOPA. PROCEDURES: Psychometric properties of the SCOPA were assessed in a Dutch patient population (n = 205, age 18-86 years) and a general population (n = 281, age 18-87 years). Reliability of the subscales was measured through average inter-item correlation and Cronbach's alphas. Construct validity was analysed by exploratory factor analysis. RESULTS: Average inter-item correlation and Cronbach's alphas of the subscales of the SCOPA were moderate to good. Exploratory factor analyses supported a two-factor solution, labelled as complaints in somatic and cognitive domains. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that the SCOPA has promising psychometric qualities and practical capability to evaluate the side-effect burden of treatment with psychotropic medication across the adult-aged-spectrum. However, more research is needed to cross-validate these results in the field's pursuit of increased patient safety.