A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Abstract

One of the most common anxiety disorders seen in general medical practice and in the general population is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The disorder has an estimated current prevalence in general medical practice of 2.8% to 8.5%^1-3 and in the general population of 1.6% to 5.0%.^4-6 Whereas depression in clinical settings has generated substantial research, there have been far fewer studies of anxiety. In part, this may be because of the paucity of brief validated measures for anxiety compared with the numerous measures for depression,^7,8 such as the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ).^9-11 This situation is unfortunate, given the high prevalence of anxiety disorders, as well as their associated disability and the availability of effective treatments, both pharmacological and nonpharmacological.^12,13