Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:26:06.320Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Screening for anxiety disorders

Sensitivity and specificity of the Anxiety Screening Questionnaire (ASQ–15)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

Hans-Ulrich Wittchen  and
Patrice Boyer
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background The paper describes the rationale, sensitivity and specificity of the Anxiety Screening Questionnaire (ASQ), a disorder-specific screening instrument for use in primary care.

Method Two hundred and fifty subjects sampled from psychiatric, primary care settings and the community, participated in a test-retest reliability as well as a procedural validity study, using the M–CIDI with DSM–IV algorithms as a diagnostic yardstick.

Results The ASQ was found to be easy to administer and acceptable and efficient in terms of sensitivity and specificity for generalised anxiety syndromes. The test– retest item reliability was good to excellent with kappa values of 0.6 or above. As compared with the validity standard, the DSM – IV/CIDI diagnoses caseness sensitivity was generally high (above 82%) for all diagnostic domains covered, whereas the specificity was only high for DSM – IV threshold and subthreshold generalised anxiety disorder.

Conclusions These preliminary findings demonstrate the usefulness of this anxiety screening questionnaire, constructed closely following the guidelines of specific diagnostic criteria.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 173 , Issue S34: Recognition and management of anxiey syndromes , July 1998 , pp. 10 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1998 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM–III). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM–IV). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Apfeldorf, W. J., Shear, M. K., Leon, A. C., et al (1994) A brief screen for panic disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 8, 71–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 53–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buchholz, K. K., Dinwiddie, S. H., Reich, T., et al (1993) Comparison of screening proposals for somatization disorder: empirical analyses. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 59–64.Google Scholar
Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S. & Covi, L. (1973) The SCL-90: An outpatient psychiatric rating scale. Deutsche Bearbeitung CIPS. Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 9, 13–28.Google Scholar
First, M. B., Gibbon, M., Spitzer, R. L., et al (1996) Users guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV Axis I Disorders – Research Version (SOD–1, Version 2.0). New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. & Williams, P. (1988) A User's Guide to the General Health Questionnaire. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Hanley, J. A. & McNeil, B. J. (1982) The meaning and use of the area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Radiology, 143, 29–36.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W., DeArango, M. V., Baltazar, L., et al (1980) Mental disorders in primary health care: a study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10, 231–241.Google Scholar
Kasper, S. & Möller, H.-J. (eds) (1995) Angstun Panikerkrankungen. Jena: Fischer.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Wittchen, H.-U., Abelson, J. M., et al (1998) Methodological studies of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) in the U.S. National Comorbidity Survey. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 6, 42–63.Google Scholar
Lachner, G., Wittchen, H.-U., Perkonigg, A., et al (1998) Structure, content and reliability of the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI). Substance use sections. European Addiction Research, 4, 28–41.Google Scholar
Margraf, J. (ed.) (1996) Lehrbuch der Verhaltenstherapie (Band I). Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
McGlynn, T. J. & Metcalf, H. L. (eds) (1992) Diagnostik und Therapie von Angststörungen. Ein Handbuch für den Arzt. Übersetzung von: Diagnosis and Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: A Physician's Handbook. Munich: Eigendruck.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S. A. (ed.) (1995) Social Phobia: A Clinical Review. New York: World Psychiatric Association Social Phobia Task Force.Google Scholar
Olfson, M., Leon, M. C., Broadhead, W. E., et al (1995) The SDDS-PC. A diagnostic aid for multiple mental disorders in primary care. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 31, 415–420.Google Scholar
Pfister, H. & Wittchen, H.-U. (1995) M–CIDI Compueterprogram. München: Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie, Kinisches Institut.Google Scholar
Roberts, R. E. & Vernon, S. W. (1983) The center for epidemiologic studies depression scale: its use in a community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 41–46.Google Scholar
Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Ratcliff, K. S., et al (1982) Validity of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, version II: DSM–III diagnoses. Psychological Medicine, 12, 855–870.Google Scholar
Sartorius, N., Üstün, T. B., Lecrubier, Y., et al (1996) Depression comorbid with anxiety: results from the WHO study on psychological disorders in primary health care. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168 (suppl. 30), 29–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., Kroenke, K., et al (1994) Utility of a new procedure for diagnosis mental disorders in primary care. The PRIME-MD 1000 Study. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272, 1749–1756.Google Scholar
Üstün, T. B. & Sartorius, N. (eds) (1995) Mental Illness in General Health Care. An International Study. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U. (1994) Reliability and validity studies of the WHO-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI): A critical review. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 28, 57–84.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wittchen, H.-U. (1995) Short- and longterm effectiveness of a training programme for recognition. Primary Care Psychiatry, 1, 45–52.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U., Beloch, E., Garczynski, E., et al (1996) Münchener Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M–CIDI, Paper-pencil 2.2, 2/95). München: Max-Planck-Institut für Psychiatrie, Klinisches Institut (Eigendruck).Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U., Nelson, G. B. & Lachner, G. (1998a) Prevalence of mental disorders and psychosocial impairments in adolescents and young adults. Psychological Medicine, 28, 109–126.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U., Lachner, G., Wunderlich, U., et al (1998b) Test-retest reliability of the computerized DSM–IV version of the Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M–CIDI). Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, in press.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U., Perkonigg, A., Lachner, G., & Nelson, C. B. (1998c) The early developmental stages of psychopathology study (EDSP) – objectives and design. European Addiction Research, 4, 18–27 Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U. & Pfister, H. (1997a) DIA-X-Interview Manual. Istruktionsmanual zur Durchführung von DIA-X-Interviews. Frankfurt: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
Wittchen, H.-U. & Pfister, H. (eds) (1997b) DIA–X–Interviews: Manual für Screening-Verfahren und Interview: Interviewheft Längsschnittuntersuchung (DIA-X-Lifetime); Ergänzungsheft (DIA-X-Lifetime): Interviewheft Querschnittuntersuchung (DIA-X-12 Monate): Ergänzungsheft (DIA-X-12Monate); PC-Programm zur Durchführung des Interviews (Längs- und Querschnittuntersuchung); Auswertungsprogramm. Frankfurt: Swets & Zeitlinger.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1991) ICD–10, Chapter V, Mental and Behavioural Disorders (including disorders of psychological development). Diagnostic Criteria for Research, Draft for Field Trials. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1994) A User's Guide to the Self-reporting Questionnaire (SRQ). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Zigmond, A. S. & Snaith, R. P. (1983) The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67, 361–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmerman, M. & Coryell, W. (1987) The inventory to diagnose depression (IDD): a self-report scale to diagnose major depressive disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 55–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.