Brief assessment of subjective health complaints: Development, validation and population norms of a brief form of the Giessen Subjective Complaints List (GBB-8).

Abstract Objective Although there is no causal relationship to medical morbidity, routine clinical assessment of somatic symptoms aids medical diagnosis and assessment of treatment effectiveness. Regardless of their causes, somatic symptoms indicate suffering, distress, and help-seeking behavior. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a brief self-report questionnaire to assess somatic symptom strain. Methods A brief form of the Giessen Subjective Complaints List (GBB-8) was developed and validated in a large population sample representative of the Federal Republic of Germany ( N  = 2008). Psychometric analyses included confirmation of factor structure, classical item anal…