Validación de la versión para Colombia de la Escala de Evaluación de Introspección Expandida (SAI-E) en sujetos con trastornos afectivos y psicóticos*

Introduction: Although insight is a crucial concept in psychiatry, its precise defi nition remains elusive. The Scale for the Assessment of Insight Expanded Version (SAI-E) is a scale that has been widely used and has demonstrated good psychometric properties and it is easy to apply. Objective: To validate the SAI-E for its use among patients with psychiatric disorders from Colombia. Methods: the SAI-E was translated and backtranslated by experts in English and Spanish languages and the translations was reviewed by psychiatrists with expertise in psychopathology and psychoses. Then, the scale was applied to 146 inpatients with the following diagnoses: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder and major depressive episode. Results: A clear, concise and clinically useful version was obtained. It was easy to apply by mental health professionals after a brief training period. It showed good internal consistency, test-retestand inter-rater reproducibility validity, and responsiveness. The existence of three principal domains of insight (illness awareness, symptom awareness, and pharmacological treatment acceptance) was found in the exploratory factor analysis and it is in agreement with the components of insight proposed by the original authors of the SAI-E. Conclusion:The Colombian version of the SAI-E scale has good psychometric properties. Its use for research in Colombian populations can contribute to a better cross-cultural understanding of insight disturbances among psychiatric patients.