Screening for generalized anxiety disorder in Spanish Primary Care Centers with the GAD-7

• Published in: Psychiatry research Vol. 256; pp. 312 - 317
• Main Authors: Muñoz-Navarro, Roger, Cano-Vindel, Antonio, Moriana, Juan Antonio, Adrián Medrano, Leonardo, Ruíz-Rodríguez, Paloma, Agüero, Laura, Rodríguez-Enríquez, Mónica, Pizà, María Rosa, Ramírez-Manent, Ignasi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ireland Elsevier B.V 01-10-2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis; Computerized instruments; Criterion validity; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Female; GAD-7; Generalized anxiety disorder; Health Surveys; Humans; Male; Mass Screening - methods; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Primary care; Primary Health Care - methods; Psychiatry; Psychological Tests - standards; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Screening; Sensitivity and Specificity; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Young Adult; primary care; screening; computerized instruments; GAD-7; generalized anxiety disorder; criterion validity; Screening; Criterion validity; Generalized anxiety disorder; Computerized instruments; Primary care
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.06.023

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine the criterion validity of a computerized version of the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) questionnaire to detect general anxiety disorder in Spanish primary care centers. A total of 178 patients completed the GAD-7 and were administered the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, which was used as a reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated. A cut-off of 10 yielded a sensitivity of .87, a specificity of .78, a positive predictive value of .93, a negative predictive value of .64, a positive likelihood ratio of 3.96 a negative likelihood ratio of .17 and Younden's Index of .65. The GAD-7 performed very well with a cut-off value of 10, the most frequently used cut-off point. Thus, a computerized version of the GAD-7 is an excellent screening tool for detecting general anxiety disorder in Spanish primary care settings.