Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) screening tool with automated scoring. Assesses anxiety severity and guides treatment decisions.
The GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item) Screening Tool implements the validated self-report questionnaire developed by Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, and Lowe (2006) for screening and measuring the severity of generalized anxiety disorder. This is one of the most widely used anxiety screening instruments in clinical practice, recommended by multiple practice guidelines including NICE and the APA.
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health conditions, affecting approximately 18% of adults in the United States. Despite this high prevalence, anxiety disorders are frequently underdiagnosed in primary care settings. The GAD-7 provides a standardized, efficient screening method that can be administered in under 3 minutes and scored instantly.
A score of 10 or greater has a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 82% for generalized anxiety disorder. The GAD-7 also has good operating characteristics for screening panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and PTSD (Kroenke et al., 2007).
Each of the 7 items is rated on a 4-point scale (0 = Not at all, 1 = Several days, 2 = More than half the days, 3 = Nearly every day), yielding a total score of 0-21.
| Score | Severity | Clinical Action |
|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | Minimal | Routine monitoring |
| 5-9 | Mild | Watchful waiting, psychoeducation |
| 10-14 | Moderate | CBT and/or SSRI/SNRI |
| 15-21 | Severe | Combined therapy + medication, consider psychiatry referral |