Abstract

Studies suggest that the psychological disorder arising after long-term stress differs from depression and anxiety disorders. In Sweden this stress-related condition is called exhaustion disorder (ED). ED is assigned the ICD-10 diagnostic code F43.8. The Karolinska Exhaustion Disorder Scale (KEDS) has been developed in order to assist in diagnosing patients with ED. KEDS is a short (9 items) questionnaire that addresses the core symptoms of ED: Problems with cognitive functioning, physical and mental stamina, sleeping problems, ability to recover, sensitivity to sensory impressions, reactions to demands, and feelings of irritability and anger. KEDS has been validated in Swedish ED patients and healthy individuals and showed good discriminatory power (A. Besèr et al., Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2014, 55, 72–82). In response to the need to identify the health condition associated with long-term stress, we decided to translate KEDS into Danish, and to test it in a group of patients in occupational health clinics in Denmark. The purpose was to investigate to which extent KEDS is able to discriminate between stress-related disorders and other disorders. In the present paper we will present the translation process, the design of the test procedure, as well as preliminary test results.