Which screening tool is commonly used for assessing anxiety?

The GAD-7 is a widely recognized screening tool specifically designed to assess generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). It consists of seven questions that focus on the frequency of various anxiety symptoms experienced in the past two weeks, such as excessive worry, difficulty relaxing, and restlessness. The responses are scored to provide a total score that can help determine the severity of anxiety symptoms, ranging from mild to severe.

This tool is particularly effective because it is brief, easy to use in clinical settings, and has been validated for identifying anxiety disorders, making it a preferred choice among healthcare providers for initial assessments of anxiety levels in patients.

In contrast, while the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 are tools used for assessing depression, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory is a comprehensive scale for measuring anxiety, the GAD-7 is specifically tailored for anxiety screening and is widely used in both clinical and research settings for this purpose.