GAD-7

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The GAD-7 ( Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7) is a module of the Health Questionnaire for Patients ( PHQ-D ), which was designed to identify possible patients with a generalized anxiety disorder and to record the severity of symptoms of generalized anxiety.

It is a revision of the module for "other anxiety disorders" from the first version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). The validation of the instrument showed that the GAD-7 has a high accuracy not only for generalized anxiety disorder, but also for other anxiety disorders such as social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder and panic disorder.

The items of GAD-7 describe the most important diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder according to DSM-IV, namely that

  • Criterion A (fear and concern about a series of events or activities),
  • Criterion B (difficulty controlling worries) and
  • Criterion C (fear and worry are accompanied by at least three additional symptoms such as restlessness, easy fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension and sleep problems). The GAD-7 is currently being recommended by the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-5 Working Group as a possible tool for measuring the severity of Generalized Anxiety Disorder under the new DSM-5 criteria.

GAD-7 asks how often people suffered from the seven core symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder in the past two weeks. Possible answers are “not at all”, “on a few days”, “on more than half of the days” and “almost every day”, to which the numerical values ​​0 to 3 are assigned accordingly.

Evaluation of the GAD-7

The tool comprises seven questions, each with four possible answers. The following values ​​are assigned to the possible answers:

  • 0 ("Not at all"),
  • 1 ("On individual days"),
  • 2 (“On more than half of the days”) and
  • 3 (“Almost every day”).

The total scale value thus corresponds to the sum of the point values ​​and lies between 0 and 21. The following table describes the interpretation of the possible total scale values:

Calculated total scale value Anxiety symptoms
0-4 Minimal anxiety symptoms
5-9 Mild anxiety symptoms
10-14 Moderate anxiety symptoms
15-21 Severe anxiety symptoms

Test diagnostic quality criteria of the GAD-7

Criterion validity

Spitzer et al. stated a value of 89% for the sensitivity and 82% for the specificity with a cut-off value of 10.

Reliability:
The internal consistency is very high and is, according to Cronbach's = .89, and the test-retest reliability is: ICC = .83 Furthermore, a study by Löwe et al. examined the validity of GAD-7 on a representative German population sample. According to this study, the internal consistency is = .89.

Comparative values ​​of GAD-7 on a representative sample of the population

In a study by Löwe et al. standard values ​​of GAD-7 were examined on a representative sample of the population. The average GAD-7 total score was M = 2.95 (SD = 3.41). In another study, mean values ​​were reported for patients with different anxiety disorders (according to SKID): patients with generalized anxiety disorder had a total value of M = 14.0, patients with panic disorder had a value of M = 12.5, patients with social anxiety disorder had a mean value of M = 13.0 and patients with post-traumatic stress disorder had a mean value of M = 12.0. Standard deviations were not reported.

See also

Web links

https://www.uke.de/daten/institute/institut-und-poliklinik-f%C3%BCr-psychosomatische-medizin-und-psychotherapie/downloads/gesundheitsfragebogen-gad-7.pdf

Notes on usage authorization

The PHQ-D and its subscales are freely available and free of charge and can be used for non-commercial purposes without charge. When using the PHQ-D or a short form, the German version of the instrument must be quoted correctly when the data generated is published.

literature

  • B. Löwe, RL Spitzer, S. Zipfel, W. Herzog: Health questionnaire for patients (PHQ D). Complete version and short form. Test folder with manual, questionnaires, templates. 2nd Edition. Pfizer, Karlsruhe 2002, OCLC 1054398788 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d R. L. Spitzer, K. Kroenke, JW Williams, B. Löwe: A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. In: Arch Intern Med . 166, 2006, pp. 1092-1097.
  2. ↑ a b c d K. Kroenke, RL Spitzer, JB Williams, PO Monahan, B. Löwe: Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. In: Ann Intern Med . 146, 2007, pp. 317-325.
  3. ↑ Proposed Draft Revisions to DSM Disorders and Criteria (English) ( Memento from October 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ a b c B. Löwe, O. Decker, S. Müller, E. Brähler, D. Schellberg, W. Herzog, PY Herzberg: Validation and standardization of the generalized anxiety disorder screener (GAD-7) in the general population. In: Med Care. 46, 2008, pp. 266-274.