PSYCHLOPS (psychological outcome profiles) is a type of

psychological testing Psychological testing is the administration of psychological tests. Psychological tests are administered by trained evaluators. A person's responses are evaluated according to carefully prescribed guidelines. Scores are thought to reflect individ ...

, a

tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

used in

primary care Primary care is the day-to-day healthcare given by a health care provider. Typically this provider acts as the first contact and principal point of continuing care for patients within a healthcare system, and coordinates other specialist care t ...

to measure mental health outcomes and as a quality of life measure. It is also one intervention that has been adapted for use in children and adopted by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

(WHO) in response to a demand for guidance on psychological interventions for people exposed to adversity, including humanitarian disasters.

Use in mental health care

PSYCHLOPS is a mental health outcome-measure tool used in primary care or community care settings and is self-completed. It measures mental health problems, quality of life, social functioning and wellbeing. Others include the

Beck Depression Inventory The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, BDI-1A, BDI-II), created by Aaron T. Beck, is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report inventory, one of the most widely used psychometric tests for measuring the severity of depression. Its development mark ...

, the

CORE-OM CORE-OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure) is a common self-report measure of global distress. It can be used as an initial screening tool and as an assessment tool of the response to psychological therapy. Description ...

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7) is a self-reported questionnaire for screening and severity measuring of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). GAD-7 has seven items, which measure severity of various signs of GAD according to reported respons ...

(GAD-7) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), amongst others. By comparing scores before, during and after completion of

talking therapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

, the measure enables calculation of a change score. The change score indicates the change (improvement or deterioration) in perceived severity of problems during and following a course of talking therapy. PSYCHLOPS is a patient-generated outcome measure which means that measurement is based on items (issues) selected by patients rather than pre-specified items. By gathering information on patient-generated items, PSYCHLOPS contains a free text record (qualitative data) of the patient's own perception of their problems which can be used for

qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...

WHO

It is also one intervention that has been adopted by the WHO in response to a demand for guidance on psychological interventions for people exposed to adversity. This includes people caught up in

humanitarian crises A humanitarian crisis (or sometimes humanitarian disaster) is defined as a singular event or a series of events that are threatening in terms of health, safety or well-being of a community or large group of people. It may be an internal or extern ...

and incorporates common mental health problems in a variety of countries, cultures and settings. WHO has included it in two of their mental health programmes, Programme Management Plus (PM+) and Self Help Plus (SH+), both of which use locally trained mental health workers to administer mental health support in countries affected by conflict and war.

Children

PSYCHLOPS has been adapted for use in children. Unlike a

checklist A checklist is a type of job aid used in repetitive tasks to reduce failure by compensating for potential limits of human memory and attention. It helps to ensure consistency and completeness in carrying out a task. A basic example is the " to d ...

, "PSYCHLOPS Kids" allows children to identify their worries themselves. For children taking part in drama therapy, they have the potential to recognise the impact of their therapy. The reliance on the support of school staff has been reported as one limitation.

Procedure

PSYCHLOPS is completed by the individual person. A specific sequence of questions is included in the questionnaire which address the respondent's greatest and least worries. These concerns are then scored. Subsequently, the answers and scores can be used to evaluate their perception of the change in their problems as a result of counselling or other

. It uses a six-point scale rather than the seven used in its sister questionnaire, MYMOP. The procedure encompasses answering four questions on one sheet, with the first question being “Choose the problem that troubles you most?” This is followed by scoring it on a six-point scoring range and recording the duration of the problem. An outcome score is calculated using the scores of each of the before, during and after questionnaires.

History

PSYCHLOPS was designed by
group
led by Dr Mark Ashworth, an academic British general practitioner and designed by Jeremy Christey. This work was inspired by the

self-report inventory A self-report inventory is a type of psychological test in which a person fills out a survey or questionnaire with or without the help of an investigator. Self-report inventories often ask direct questions about personal interests, values, sympto ...

, MYMOP (Measure Yourself Medical Outcome Profile), another outcome measure first published in 1996 and mainly used for people who present with physical, emotional, or social symptoms. This measure brings important understanding from psychotherap
research
to measure what is important to individuals themselves, to help them track and manage their self-defined difficulties. The PSYCHLOPS measure looks at a trans-therapeutic approach to measurement, that includes the ideas that we manage our difficulties throug
three different phases
These three stages are; Re-moralisation (wellbeing, where mood lifts). Remediation (where problems get better) and rehabilitation (where functioning, the causes of problems are improved). The PSYCHLOPS measure is designed to focus on these stages and phases in measuring mental health from a client-centred perspective.

Research

There has been debate as to whether to identify and measure individualized outcomes that are unique for each patient ( idiographic approach) or to use standardized measures (

nomothetic Nomothetic literally means "proposition of the law" (Greek derivation) and is used in philosophy, psychology, and law with differing meanings. Etymology In general humanities usage, ''nomothetic'' may be used in the sense of "able to lay down t ...

approach). Both measures have their advantages and disadvantages. As a patient-generated measure, PSYCHLOPS appears a more sensitive (responsive) measure of change following a mental health intervention than some other standardised measures.

References

External links

www.psychlops.org.uk
Mental disorders screening and assessment tools Primary care