Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Clinic for Psychiatry II, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, EURAC Research, Bolzano, Italy.
High Alt Med Biol. 2019 Dec;20(4):352-360. doi: 10.1089/ham.2019.0009. Epub 2019 Aug 21.
Psychotic symptoms during exposure to high altitude (HA) have been linked to accidents or near accidents on the mountains. It is thus of great importance to directly identify psychotic symptoms in individuals who are exposed to HA quickly and reliably on the mountain, even in the absence of experienced medical personnel. Psychotic features at HA frequently include positive psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking/speech. The aim of the current study was to develop the first self-administered questionnaire (High Altitude Psychosis [HAPSY] Questionnaire), which individuals may use in the future to self-assess altitude-related psychotic symptoms on the mountain. We utilized two existing self-rating questionnaires for psychotic symptoms (the Psychotomimetic States Inventory, PSI and the Cardiff Anomalous Perception Scale, CAPS) as the basis for a two-round Delphi process. As part of this process, additional statements were suggested by the 40 Delphi participants. Eleven self-administered statements-all of them related to positive psychotic symptoms-were identified to be most useful for the self-detection of HA-related psychotic symptoms on the mountain. This is the first self-administered questionnaire that allows the identification of HA-related psychotic symptoms on the mountain. A subsequent validation study is needed to address the psychometric properties of this questionnaire. Clinical validation will have to be performed in a field study.
在高海拔环境中出现的精神病症状与登山事故或险些发生的事故有关。因此，在高海拔环境中，即使没有经验丰富的医务人员在场，能够快速、可靠地直接识别出个体出现的精神病症状非常重要。高海拔环境中出现的精神病特征通常包括阳性精神病症状，如幻觉、妄想或思维/言语紊乱。本研究旨在开发第一个自我评估问卷（高海拔精神病问卷，HAPSY Questionnaire），以便个体将来在山上自我评估与海拔相关的精神病症状。我们利用现有的两个用于评估精神病症状的自评问卷（幻觉诱发状态量表，PSI 和加的夫异常知觉量表，CAPS）作为两轮 Delphi 过程的基础。在此过程中，40 名 Delphi 参与者提出了其他陈述。确定了 11 个自我评估陈述——它们都与阳性精神病症状有关——对于在山上自我检测与高海拔相关的精神病症状最有用。这是第一个可以在山上识别与高海拔相关的精神病症状的自我评估问卷。需要进行后续的验证研究来解决该问卷的心理测量学特性。临床验证将必须在现场研究中进行。
