What does a GAD score of 7 mean?

A score of 10 or greater on the GAD-7 represents a reasonable cut point for identifying cases of GAD. Cut points of 5, 10, and 15 might be interpreted as representing mild, moderate, and severe levels of anxiety on the GAD-7, similar to levels of depression on the PHQ-9.

What is the GAD-7 screening tool?

Topic Overview. This questionnaire—called the GAD-7 screening tool—can help you find out if you might have an anxiety disorder that needs treatment. It calculates how many common symptoms you have and—based on your answers—suggests where you might be on a scale, from mild to severe anxiety.

How do you use the GAD-7 scale?

The GAD-7 score is calculated by assigning scores of 0, 1, 2, and 3, to the response categories of “not at all,” “several days,” “more than half the days,” and “nearly every day,” respectively, and then adding together the scores for the seven questions. GAD-7 total score for the seven items ranges from 0 to 21.

Is GAD-7 a Likert scale?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 Each item is scored on a four-point Likert scale (0–3) with total scores ranging from 0 to 21 with higher scores reflecting greater anxiety severity.

Is GAD a serious mental illness?

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by six months or more of chronic, exaggerated worry and tension that is unfounded or much more severe than the normal anxiety most people experience. People with this disorder usually expect the worst.

What is the highest level of anxiety?

Severe anxiety is intensely debilitating, and symptoms of severe anxiety meet key diagnostic criteria for clinically-significant anxiety disorder. People with severe anxiety typically score higher on scales of distress and lower on functioning.

Do you need permission to use the GAD-7?

The GAD-7 was developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute.

What is the best screening tool for anxiety?

The Kessler-10 (7) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item scale (GAD-7) (6) were the most commonly validated tools for anxiety disorders, while the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (3) and Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (3) were the most commonly validated tools for PTSD.

How effective is the GAD-7?

Results: The GAD-7 yielded a sensitivity of 61.3% and specificity of 72.7% at an optimal cut-off score of 13. Compared with the EPDS and the EPDS-3A subscale, the GAD-7 displayed greater accuracy and specificity over a greater range of cut-off scores and more accurately identified GAD in patients with comorbid MDD.

When is GAD-7 used?

The GAD-7 is increasingly used as a measure for anxiety in general (Beard and Björgvinsson, 2014) and in anxiety disorder research (Dear et al., 2011). The use of GAD-7 across different anxiety disorders is warranted since GAD is an anxiety disorder with a high degree of comorbidity (Kessler et al., 2012).

Is the GAD-7 valid?

The GAD-7 has good reliability, factorial validity, and concurrent validity. The optimal cutoff score obtained by maximizing the Youden Index should be considered cautiously; women who screened positive may require further investigation to confirm GAD diagnosis.

Who can use GAD-7 scale?

What is the GAD-7 score for generalized anxiety disorder?

not present GAD-2 Score* Provisional Diagnosis 0-2 None 3-6 Probable anxiety disorder GAD-7 Score Provisional Diagnosis 0-7 None

What are the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder?

Scoring Criteria: Total score (adding all the numbers) provides a possible score from 0-21. GAD-7 Total Score Symptom Range 0-4 Minimal Anxiety 5-9 Mild Anxiety 10-14 Moderate Anxiety 15-21 Severe Anxiety

What is the cut point for generalized anxiety disorder?

Interpretation: When screening for anxiety disorders, a score of 8 or greater represents a reasonable cut-point for identifying probable cases of generalized anxiety disorder; further diagnostic assessment is warranted to determine the presence and type of anxiety disorder.

What is the purpose of the GAD-7 test?

 Self-administered 7 item instrument that uses some of the DSM-V criteria for GAD (General Anxiety Disorder) to identify probable cases of GAD along with measuring anxiety symptom severity. It can also be used as a screening measure of panic, social anxiety, and PTSD.