Measures
The following psychometric scales were used for
assessments: BPRS and Overt Aggression Scale (OAS),
both translated and validated for Portuguese. BPRS is
widely used to assess psychopathologies. We used an
18-item anchored version scoring 0-6 according to the
severity of the symptoms.15 A Structured Interview Guide
was used to increase inter-rater reliability.16 The scale
items may be classified into four components (factors):
anxious-depression, withdrawal-retardation, thinking
disorder and activation.17 The OAS, used in several other
studies,18,19 is an instrument to measure aggressive
episodes. Easily applicable, it classifies aggressive
episodes into four types: verbal aggression, aggression
against objects, self-aggression and physical aggression
against others. A form was developed to collect variables
about demographic characteristics, disease history, use
of services, history of aggression, previous treatments
and psychopathological features.
The study was conducted by the Psychiatry Research
Laboratory team, which includes residents in psychiatry,