GAD-7 (General Anxiety Disorder-7)
Measures severity of anxiety.
MDCalc provides tools and content intended for use by healthcare professionals, and is not meant for use by patients. While these may be surveys or questions intended for patients, they are meant to be answered in the context of a clinician’s medical care and not on their own to diagnose or treat any disease.
Management
Scores ≥10: Further assessment (including diagnostic interview and mental status examination) and/or referral to a mental health professional recommended.
| Score | Symptom Severity | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 5-9 | Mild | Monitor |
| 10*-14 | Moderate | Possible clinically significant condition |
| >15 | Severe | Active treatment probably warranted |
*For Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, & PTSD, cutoff score of 8 may be used for optimal sensitivity/specificity (see Evidence section).
Critical Actions
- This tool should be used for screening and monitoring symptom severity and cannot replace a clinical assessment and diagnosis.
- Do not forget to rule out medical causes of anxiety before diagnosing an anxiety disorder (for example, EKG for arrhythmias, TSH for thyroid disease).