[Symptom Checklist SCL-27].

The Symptom-Checklist-27 (SCL-27) forms a modification of the widely used Symptom-Checklist-90-R, with the latter demonstrating considerable shortcomings in psychometric properties. The SCL-27 is designed to screen for psychiatric symptoms in patients presenting somatic complaints. It contains the six subscales depressive, dysthymic, vegetative, agoraphobic, sociophobic symptoms and symptoms of mistrust. Additionally, a global severity index (GSI-27), similar to the GSI in the SCL-90-R is available. The subscales are short, the number of items varies between four and six. Psychometric properties and reference values based on a representative German sample of more than 2000 subjects are presented for the various subscales. All subscales show sufficient internal consistency with Cronbach's alpha > or = 0.70 and for the GSI-27 alpha is = 0.93. The correlation between GSI-27 and GSI is r = 0.93. Sex-specific cut-offs are presented to identify those patients, who need further examination.