Somatic Symptom Scale – 8 (SSS-8)
A brief self-report measure of somatic symptom burden.
Scale Development & Technical Details
Scale Overview
The Somatic Symptom Scale – 8 (SSS-8) was developed by Gierk et al. (2014). It is designed to measure Somatic symptom burden. The scale is intended for use with Adults.
Scale Structure
This instrument consists of 8 items.
Response Format
Respondents rate each item using a custom response format.
Response anchors: 0 = Not at all, 1 = A little bit, 2 = Somewhat, 3 = Quite a bit, 4 = Very much.
Scoring
Items are summed to produce a total score.
Total scores range from 0 to 32. Interpretation guidelines:
- No to minimal somatic symptom burden: 0 – 3
- Low somatic symptom burden: 4 – 7
- Medium somatic symptom burden: 8 – 11
- High somatic symptom burden: 12 – 15
- Very high somatic symptom burden: 16 – 32
Psychometric Properties
Internal Consistency: The scale has demonstrated good to excellent internal consistency with reported Cronbach’s alpha values of 0.81.
Administration
The scale is self-administered and typically takes approximately 2 minutes to complete. It can be administered individually or in group settings. No special training is required for administration.