Somatic and bodily-symptom assessment focuses on how people experience, notice, interpret, and respond to physical sensations. These measures cover general somatic complaints, bodily vigilance, autonomic symptoms, pain, fatigue, health anxiety, sensory discomfort, and related forms of health-related distress.
This domain is centered on the subjective experience of the body rather than on medical diagnosis itself.
These measures assess bodily complaints, autonomic symptoms, somatoform symptoms, and the burden of physical discomfort. They capture both symptom presence and the perceptual or cognitive sensitivity with which bodily sensations are experienced.
The Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-15 assesses common somatic symptoms such as pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal complaints, dizziness, and sleep-related symptoms.
The Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) provides a shorter assessment of somatic symptom burden and is often used as a compact alternative to the PHQ-15.
The Somatic Symptom Disorder – B Criteria Scale (SSD-12) assesses psychological features associated with somatic symptom disorder, including excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to bodily symptoms.
The Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ) assesses symptoms associated with dysfunctional breathing and hyperventilation-related complaints, such as breathlessness, chest tightness, dizziness, tingling, and bodily tension. It is a somatic screening tool rather than a general anxiety questionnaire.
The Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS-31) assesses symptoms related to autonomic nervous system functioning across domains such as orthostatic intolerance, gastrointestinal symptoms, vasomotor function, and secretomotor activity.
The Screening for Somatoform Symptoms (SOMS-2) assesses medically unexplained or functionally impairing somatic symptoms across multiple bodily systems.
The Children's Somatic Symptoms Inventory (CSSI-8) is a brief child and adolescent measure of somatic symptoms, assessing common physical complaints such as pain, weakness, dizziness, and gastrointestinal discomfort.
These measures assess persistent tiredness, reduced energy, and difficulty sustaining physical or mental effort. Fatigue may overlap with stress, depression, sleep disturbance, burnout, and medical conditions, but it is often useful to assess it directly as a somatic and functional experience.
The PROMIS Fatigue assesses the frequency, intensity, and impact of fatigue on daily activities and quality of life.
The Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) measures general fatigue across physical and mental domains.
The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS-9) assesses the impact of fatigue on daily functioning.
The Maastricht Vital Exhaustion Questionnaire (MQ) assesses vital exhaustion, including unusual fatigue, irritability, loss of energy, demoralization, and stress-related depletion.
The Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFQ) assesses the severity of physical and mental fatigue, including tiredness, need for rest, low energy, weakness, and difficulties with concentration or memory.
The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) assesses general fatigue, physical fatigue, mental fatigue, reduced activity, and reduced motivation.
The State-Trait Energy and Fatigue Scales (STEF) assess both temporary and dispositional levels of energy and fatigue, distinguishing between current states and more stable individual tendencies toward energetic or fatigued functioning.
These measures assess excessive concern about illness, heightened monitoring of bodily sensations, fear of symptoms, illness-related beliefs, and anxiety driven by searching for health information online. Their focus is specifically bodily: how physical sensations are noticed, interpreted, checked, and linked to fears about health.
The Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI) assesses health-related worry, disease preoccupation, and feared consequences of illness.
The Illness Attitude Scales (IAS) assess health anxiety, disease conviction, illness behavior, and concerns about bodily functioning.
The Whiteley Index (WI-8, WI-14) measures hypochondriacal concerns and fear of illness.
The Body Vigilance Scale (BVS) assesses attention to bodily sensations and monitoring of internal physical states.
The Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS) measures the tendency to perceive normal bodily sensations as intense, disturbing, or medically concerning.
The Cyberchondria Severity Scale (CSS-12) assesses excessive or distress-driven online health information seeking and its association with health anxiety.
The Online Health Information Seeking Scale (OHISS) assesses the tendency to search for health-related information online and the psychological impact of this behavior.
The eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) assesses perceived ability to find, evaluate, and use online health information to address health-related problems.
These instruments assess pain severity, pain interference, acceptance, self-efficacy, catastrophizing, fear of movement, avoidance beliefs, psychological inflexibility, and central sensitization. They reflect a biopsychosocial model of pain, where disability depends not only on pain intensity but also on beliefs, fear, avoidance, acceptance, and perceived capacity to function.
The Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) assesses pain severity and pain-related interference with daily functioning.
The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) assesses the degree to which individuals accept pain and continue engaging in meaningful activities despite discomfort.
The Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ) assesses confidence in functioning despite pain.
The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) assesses exaggerated negative interpretations of pain, including rumination, magnification, and helplessness.
The Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) assesses fear of movement or re-injury associated with pain.
The Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI-R) assesses symptoms associated with central sensitization and central sensitivity syndromes, including pain sensitivity, fatigue, sleep disturbance, concentration difficulties, and multisystem bodily complaints.
The Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire (FABQ) assesses beliefs that physical activity or work may worsen pain or cause harm, reflecting a central process in fear-avoidance models of chronic pain.
The Psychological Inflexibility in Pain Scale (PIPS) assesses psychological inflexibility in chronic pain, including pain avoidance and cognitive fusion with pain-related thoughts. It is especially relevant to ACT and exposure- and acceptance-oriented approaches to pain.
The Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-III) assesses fear of pain across severe pain, minor pain, and medical pain situations.
These measures assess dizziness, vertigo, balance-related symptoms, vestibular complaints, and the impact of these symptoms on daily functioning and quality of life.
The Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) assesses the perceived functional, emotional, and physical impact of dizziness and balance problems.
The Vertigo Symptom Scale (VSS-SF) assesses vertigo, dizziness, autonomic symptoms, and anxiety-related sensations associated with vestibular complaints.
The Vestibular Rehabilitation Benefit Questionnaire (VRBQ) assesses symptoms and quality-of-life impact before and after vestibular rehabilitation, helping evaluate perceived benefit from treatment.
These measures assess sensory functions and sensory-related difficulties, including vision, hearing, smell, voice, speech-related functioning, and identity or adaptation in the context of hearing loss.
The Ishihara Test assesses color vision deficiency using pseudoisochromatic plates, primarily for screening red-green color blindness.
The Olfactory Questionnaire (OQ) assesses self-reported olfactory function and smell-related difficulties, including perceived problems with detecting, identifying, or experiencing odors.
The Voice Handicap Index (VHI-30) assesses the functional, physical, and emotional impact of voice problems on daily communication and quality of life.
The Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale (SSQ) assesses perceived hearing ability in everyday listening situations, including speech understanding, spatial hearing, and sound quality.
The Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) assesses the emotional and social impact of hearing difficulties in adults.
The Deaf Identity Development Scale (DIDS) assesses Deaf identity development, including hearing, marginal, immersion, and bicultural identity orientations.
⇒ Anxiety. Somatic symptoms overlap with anxiety through bodily arousal, panic-like sensations, vigilance, catastrophic interpretation, and fear of physical symptoms.
⇒ Stress may overlap with somatic symptoms through tension, fatigue, autonomic activation, sleep disturbance, irritability, and bodily exhaustion.
⇒ Depression may overlap with somatic complaints through fatigue, pain, low energy, sleep disturbance, appetite changes, and reduced activity.
⇒ Sleep Disorders overlaps with somatic functioning through fatigue, low energy, pain sensitivity, autonomic arousal, and reduced daytime functioning.
Somatic and health-related assessment should distinguish bodily symptom burden, health anxiety, somatic vigilance, pain-related cognition, fatigue, vestibular or sensory complaints, and functional impairment.
These measures do not replace medical evaluation. Elevated scores may reflect medical conditions, psychological distress, stress physiology, pain-related fear, sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression, dissociation, or several overlapping processes.
A comprehensive interpretation should consider symptom severity, medical context, functional impact, catastrophic interpretation, avoidance, self-efficacy, coping resources, and the degree to which bodily symptoms are monitored, feared, or integrated into daily life.