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Psychiatric Assessment Scale Information

Assessment Tools for Depression
Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)
21-item self rating scale for depression
Includes 2-week time requirement for assessing depres-
sive symptoms (in conjuction with DSM-IV criteria) vs
1 week
Reliability: coeffiecient alpha
.92
Widely used instrument; 5 minutes to complete
Copyrighted by Psychological Corporation
(http://www.psychcorp.com)
Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Erbaugh J. An inventory
for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psych 1961; 4:5363
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D)
17 21 item observer-rated scale for determining
depression severity
Requires trained clinician (clinical interview skill/expertise);
used mostly in clinical/research trials
30 minutes to administer
Well validated/highly reliable
Hamilton M: A rating scale for depression. J Neurol
Neurosurg Psychiatry 1960; 23:5662
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
15 30 item self-rated instrument specifically for geriatric
depression
Yesavage JA, et al.: Development and validation of a geri-
atric screening scale: a preliminary report. J Psych Res1983;
17:3749 (See GDS, short version, in Assessment Tab)
Assessment Tools for Anxiety
Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI)
21-item self-rated used to discriminate anxiety versus
depression in adults, with reliability
Anxiety assessment in clinical and research environments
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Assessment Tools for Abnormal Movements (EPS)

Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS)
12-item instrument assessing abnormal movements for
those on antipsychotics
Assesses for tardive dyskinesia
Quick (5 10 min) and reliable assessment tool
Movements scored on facial-oral, extremity, and trunk
movements
Clinician or other trained rater (psychiatric nurse)
Guy W: ECDEU Assessment Manual for
Psychopharmacology, rev ed. Washington. DC: US
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1976
Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale (BARS)
4-item scale when akathisia is suspected; 10 15 minute
completion time
Barnes TRE: A rating scale for drug-induced akathisia.
Br J Psychiatry 1989; 154:672676
Assessment Tool in Schizophrenia
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
30-item clinician-rated scale for presence/severity of
positive and negative symptoms in schizophrenics
Experience with schizophrenia and trained in interview
techniques
Up to 40 minutes to complete
Kay SR, Fiszbein A, Opler LA: The Positive and Negative
Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 1987;
13:261267.