THE PSYCHOSOCIAL LEVELS SYSTEM - A NEW RATING-SCALE TO IDENTIFY AND ASSESS EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES DURING BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANTATION

The "Psychosocial Levels System" assesses patients on three gradations of intensity: Level 1 (mild/minimal); Level 2 (moderate); and Level 3 (severe), taking into account past psychiatric history, quality of family and social support, prior coping history, coping with disease and treatment, quality of affect, proneness to anticipatory problems, and mental status. Based on initial psychiatric interviews, 42 BMT patients were rated by the authors. Results showed strong and significant concordance amongst raters. Retrospective global "level" ratings assigned by each patient's liaison therapist were highly concordant with the record-review generated ratings by the authors, emphasizing the significant convergent validity of the system.