[KOPS: a self-rating instrument for assessment of physical, psychological and social communication impairments].

In this article the development of a self-rating symptom questionnaire is described. The questionnaire records physical, psychological and social-interactionary impairments typical for neurotic and psychosomatic disorders. Contrary to most of the established self-assessment instruments the KOPS-questionnaire consequently records symptoms from these three areas. The questionnaire contains 64 items scaled on four steps and can be filled out by the test person in a short period of time. The results depicted here from different sample groups which were examined verify the differential and criterion related validity and furthermore an explorative factor analysis also verifies the content validity. The instrument is suited for screening purposes as well as for clinical course studies of psychological disorders. The problems of the assessor perspective (by an expert or by a patient) in recording symptoms is discussed.