The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) and the anxiety module of the Hospital and Depression Scale (HADS-A) as screening tools for generalized anxiety disorder among cancer patients

Esser, Peter; Hartung, Tim J.; Friedrich, Michael; Johansen, Christoffer; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich; Faller, Hermann; Koch, Uwe; Härter, Martin; Keller, Monika; Schulz, Holger; Wegscheider, Karl; Weis, Joachim und Mehnert, Anja (2018): The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) and the anxiety module of the Hospital and Depression Scale (HADS-A) as screening tools for generalized anxiety disorder among cancer patients. In: Psycho-Oncology, Bd. 27, Nr. 6: S. 1509-1516

Abstract

Objective: Anxiety in cancer patients may represent a normal psychological reaction. To detect patients with pathological levels, appropriate screeners with established cut-offs are needed. Given that previous research is sparse, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of 2 frequently used screening tools in detecting generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Methods: We used data of a multicenter study including 2141 cancer patients. Diagnostic accuracy was investigated for the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) and the anxiety module of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A). GAD, assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview for Oncology, served as a reference standard. Overall accuracy was measured with the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC). The AUC of the 2 screeners were statistically compared. We also calculated accuracy measures for selected cut-offs. Results: Diagnostic accuracy could be interpreted as adequate for both screeners, with an identical AUC of .81 (95% CI: .79-.82). Consequently, the 2 screeners did not differ in their performance (P=.86). The best balance between sensitivity and specificity was found for cut-offs 7 (GAD-7) and 8 (HADS-A). The officially recommended thresholds for the GAD-7 ( 10) and the HADS-A (11) showed low sensitivities of 55% and 48%, respectively. Conclusion: sThe GAD-7 and HADS-A showed AUC of adequate diagnostic accuracy and hence are applicable for GAD screening in cancer patients. Nevertheless, the choice of optimal cut-offs should be carefully evaluated.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 1057-9249
• Sprache: Englisch