The aging males' symptoms (AMS) rating scale
Background
The interest in clinically investigating the health-related
quality of life (HRQoL) and symptoms of aging men has increased in
recent years. To this end the Aging Males' Symptom Scale (AMS) was
developed to (a) assess symptoms of aging (independent from those
which are disease-related) between groups of males under different
conditions, (b) to evaluate the severity of symptoms over time, and
(c) to measure changes pre- and post androgen replacement therapy.
It was developed in response to the lack of standardized scales to
measure the severity of aging symptoms and their impact on HRQoL in
males, specifically2.
Languages
The AMS scale was originally developed & standardized in Germany
in accordance with rules for psychometric tests. The scale was first
translated into English (valid also for North America). Thereafter,
the AMS was translated into various languages including Dutch, French,
Flemish, Finnish, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Thai (in
process), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish3. Most of them
had been established according to state-of-the -art methodology4 and
were used in clinical research.
Reliability
Test-retest comparisons of the final scales' total scores'
were done in many countries and showed sufficient reliability with
correlation coefficients ranging from r= 0.80 to r= 0.93.
Validity
Investigations on different kinds of validity have been successfully
done or are underway: comparisons with another QoL scale, another
aging male symptom scale, and confirmation of effects of hormone substitution
in hypogonadal men.
Reference values
Reference values for the normal population were published for the
normal German population, work in other countries will follow, although
reference values may not deviate substantially from the German ones,
but it is important to provide evidence to support this assumption.
Application and evaluation of the AMS
The scale is a self-administered questionnaire. The answer categories
of all 17 questions are given as scoring points. All scoring points
will be added up to produce the total sum-score. The same procedure
is possible for the three sub-categories consisting of a defined set
of items (see attached evaluation form).
Conclusion
The AMS scale is a valuable tool for assessing health related quality
of life and symptoms in aging men and used worldwide. Evidence of
its psychometric properties are available. Clinical trials of hormone
treatment using the AMS as end-point are under way.
| AMS Website (for AMS in different languages, click on Languages link) |
| AMS Questionnaire |
| AMS Rating Scale - Evaluation Form |
Further details can be obtained from the author of the scale:
Lothar A.J. Heinemann, M.D., D.Sc., Dipl. Psych., Professor for Preventive
Medicine, ZEG - Centre for Epidemiology & Health Research Berlin,
Invalidenstrasse 115, 10115 Berlin - Germany. Tel: (+49.30) 9451.0124;
Fax: (+49.30) 9451.0126; e-mail: heinemann@zeg-berlin.de
- Heinemann LAJ, Zimmermann T, Vermeulen A, Thiel C. A New 'Aging
Male's Symptoms' (AMS) Rating Scale. The Aging Male 1999; 2:105-114.
- Heinemann LAJ, Saad F, P?ll?nen P. Measurement of Quality of Life
Specific for Aging Males. In: Schneider HPG (Ed.) Hormone Replacement
Therapy and Quality of Life. Parthenon Publishing Group. London,
New York, Washington. 2002: 63-83
- Heinemann LAJ, Saad F, Zimmermann T, Novak A, Myon E, Badia X,
Potthoff P, T'Sjoen G, P?ll?nen P, Goncharow NP, Kim S, Giroudet
Ch.The Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) rating scale: Update and compilation
of international versions. Health and Quality of Life Outcome (submitted
for publication).
- Medical Outcomes Trust introduces new translation criteria. Medical
Outcomes Trust Bulletin 1997; 5(4):2-4