Measuring Stress – Methods and Tools

To validate PSS-14 Romanian version and identify reliable and simple tools which can be used for measuring stress level in current practice. Materials and methods: PSS-14 Romanian version, a five-level qualitative scale and a decimal scale were applied to 928 Romanian subjects, selected through the “snowball method”, for measuring perceived stress level. Intraclass correlations and Alpha Cronbach coefficient were used for assessing internal consistency of PSS-14 and Spearman coefficient for testing correlations.

Results: Cronbach’s Alpha values for PSS-14 items were ≥0.700 (0.746 and 0.878 for standardized coefficient), showing internal consistency. Spearman correlation (0.375, p<0.05) revealed positive, medium and significant correlations between simple scales scores and PSS-14 scores.

Conclusions: PSS-14 RO is an adequate tool for measuring the perceived stress level in Romanian patients. When appropriate, a simple Likert qualitative scale or a decimal self-assessment scale can quickly provide to health professionals results with indicative value.