The study presents the construction of CSSS: a short screening scale intended for diagnosis of cognitive deficits among people with schizophrenia. The final version of the scale consist of 6 subscales which measure basic cognitive functions.

A total of 160 persons (124 with schizophrenia and 36 healthy controls) were tested using the initial version of the CSSS scale consisting of 11 subscales. Correlation analysis between the subscale results was carried out, as well as confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency analysis of the scale, IRT (item response theory) analysis of the item's difficulty, and analysis of the scale's accuracy as a classifier.

One factor explains 37% of the variance of the subscales’ results. The scale has satisfactory internal consistency (0,83). Subjects with schizophrenia achieved significantly lower scores than healthy subjects. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) for discriminating between subjects with schizophrenia and healthy subjects was 0.83. Cut point of 16 raw points is 86% sensitive and has 70% specificity.

The form of the tool that has been achieved as a result of presented analyses suggests that this scale has a potential to fulfill the assumed goals, which will be tested during continuing validation studies.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.