Clinimetric properties of the diagnostic criteria for psychosomatic research among the elderly

Abstract Introduction Among the elderly, the availability of tool assessing psychosomatic syndromes is limited. The present study aims at testing inter‐rater reliability and concurrent validity of the semi‐structured interview for the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR‐R‐SSI) in the elderly of the general population. Method One hundred eight subjects were recruited. Participants received a clinical assessment which included the DCPR‐R‐SSI, the Illness Attitude Scale (IAS), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the Psychosocial Index (PSI), the Toronto Alexithymia Scale‐20 (TAS‐20). Analyses of inter‐rater reliability of DCPR‐R‐SSI and concurrent validity between DCPR‐R‐SSI and self‐administered questionnaires were conducted. Results DCPR‐R‐SSI showed excellent inter‐rater reliability with a percent of agreement of 90.7% (K Cohen: 0.856 [SE = 0.043], 95% CI: 0.77–0.94). DCPR‐R demoralization showed fair concurrent validity with GDS; concurrent validity was also fair between DCPR‐R Alexithymia and TAS‐20, and between DCPR‐R allostatic overload and PSI allostatic load, while the concurrent validity between DCPR‐R Disease Phobia and IAS was moderate. Conclusion DCPR‐R‐SSI represents a reliable and valid tool to assess psychosomatic syndromes in the elderly. DCPR‐R is in need of being implemented in the elderly clinical evaluation.