Somatic symptoms are common among Syrian refugees. To quantify somatic symptom load, sum score models derived from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) have been frequently applied without psychometric justification. Across two studies (total N = 776), we (a) tested different PHQ-15 factor solutions in Syrian refugees, (b) investigated measurement invariance (MI) of the factor solutions compared with German residents, and (c) scrutinized whether sum score models adequately represent the data and differ in associations with external validators compared with factor scores. One-factor, three-factor, four-factor, and a reduced one-factor solution all displayed acceptable to good model fit. The four-factor solution showed the best fit, enabling differential symptom analyses. Sum score models often had poor model fit, necessitating independent investigations before applying them. For all factor solutions, (partial) strict MI between residents and refugees could be established. All scoring methods displayed high and comparable associations with functional impairment, depressive, and anxiety symptoms.

躯体症状在叙利亚难民中很常见。为了量化躯体症状负荷，经常应用源自患者健康问卷 (PHQ-15) 的总分模型，但没有心理测量学依据。在两项研究中（总N= 776），我们（a）在叙利亚难民中测试了不同的 PHQ-15 因子解，（b）调查了因子解与德国居民相比的测量不变性（MI），以及（c）仔细检查了总分模型是否充分代表了数据与因素得分相比，与外部验证者的关联有所不同。一因素、三因素、四因素和简化的一因素解决方案均显示可接受的良好模型拟合。四因素解决方案显示出最佳拟合，可以进行差异症状分析。总分模型的模型拟合度通常很差，因此在应用它们之前需要进行独立调查。对于所有因素的解决方案，可以在居民和难民之间建立（部分）严格的 MI。所有评分方法都显示出与功能障碍、抑郁、