The utility of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale (GADSS) with older adults in primary care

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Abstract
Background: The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Severity Scale (GADSS) is an interview rating scale designed specifically for assessing symptom severity of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which has demonstrated positive psychometric data in a sample of adult primary care patients with GAD and panic disorder. However, the psychometric properties of the GADSS have not been evaluated for older adults. Methods: This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the GADSS, administered via telephone, with a sample of older primary care patients (n =223) referred for treatment of worry and/or anxiety. Results: The GADSS demonstrated adequate internal consistency, strong inter‐rater reliability, adequate convergent validity, poor diagnostic accuracy, and mixed discriminant validity. Conclusions: Results provide mixed preliminary support for use of the GADSS with older adults. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. Published 2008 Wiley‐Lis, Inc.