Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 item
SynonymsGAD-7
LOINC69737-5

The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) is a widely used self-administered diagnostic tool designed to screen for and assess the severity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).[1] Comprising seven items, the GAD-7 measures the frequency of anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks, with respondents rating each item on a scale from "not at all" to "nearly every day." The GAD-7 was developed in 2006 by Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke, and Bernd Löwe as a brief self-report questionnaire designed to assess symptoms associated with generalized anxiety disorder.[2][3] It has been used in clinical and research settings for screening purposes and for monitoring symptom changes over time.[1] It is valued for its simplicity, reliability, and validity in detecting anxiety symptoms in diverse populations.

The GAD-7 is normally used in outpatient and primary care settings for referral to a psychiatrist pending outcome.[4][5] A systematic review compared screening tools and concluded that the GAD-7 is the most efficient one for identifying GAD as well as panic disorders in primary care populations.[6]

  1. ^ a b Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB, Löwe B (May 2006). "A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7". Archives of Internal Medicine. 166 (10): 1092–1097. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092. PMID 16717171.
  2. ^ "GAD-7 Anxiety Test | Clinically Validated Self-Assessment for Anxiety". anxietychecklist.com. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Löwe B, Decker O, Müller S, Brähler E, Schellberg D, Herzog W, et al. (March 2008). "Validation and standardization of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) in the general population". Medical Care. 46 (3): 266–274. doi:10.1097/mlr.0b013e318160d093. PMID 18388841. S2CID 16052239.
  5. ^ Sapra A, Bhandari P, Sharma S, Chanpura T, Lopp L (2020-05-21). "Using Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2 (GAD-2) and GAD-7 in a Primary Care Setting". Cureus. 12 (5): e8224. doi:10.7759/cureus.8224. ISSN 2168-8184. PMC 7306644. PMID 32582485.
  6. ^ Herr NR, Williams JW, Benjamin S, McDuffie J (July 2014). "Does this patient have generalized anxiety or panic disorder?: The Rational Clinical Examination systematic review". JAMA. 312 (1): 78–84. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.5950. PMID 25058220.