Health Opinion Survey – HOS
A 27-item psychiatric screening instrument designed to assess psychoneurotic and somatic symptoms.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Health Opinion Survey – HOS was developed by A. M. Semmence (1969). It is designed to measure Psychoneurotic and somatic symptoms. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 27 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 0 = No / Never / Not at all, 1 = Sometimes / Undecided / Once or twice / Not very much, 2 = Yes / Often / A lot / Pretty often, 3 = Nearly all the time (for items 4 and 8).
The scale includes 1 reverse-scored items to reduce acquiescence bias.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 0 to 56. Interpretation guidelines:
- Low risk of psychoneurosis: 0 – 15
- Moderate risk of psychoneurosis: 16 – 25
- High risk of psychoneurosis: 26 – 56
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of Not specified.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 8 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.