Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS): A brief, reliable, and easy-to-use tool for assessing anxiety and depression in hospital patients
Introduction: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a self-report questionnaire that is used to assess anxiety and depression in hospital patients. It is a brief and easy-to-administer tool that can be used by healthcare professionals to quickly and accurately identify patients who may be experiencing these mental health conditions.
The HADS consists of 14 items, seven of which assess anxiety and seven of which assess depression. Each item is rated on a four-point scale, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms. The HADS can be scored quickly and easily by hand or by computer.
History and development: The HADS was developed in the early 1980s by Andrew S. Zigmond and Roger P. Snaith. It was based on the earlier Hospital Anxiety Scale (HAS) and Hospital Depression Scale (HDS). The HADS was designed to be a more comprehensive and reliable measure of anxiety and depression. The HADS has been used in a wide range of research studies. It has been used to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and depression in hospital patients, the effectiveness of treatments for anxiety and depression, and the relationship between anxiety and depression and other medical conditions.
The HADS has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of anxiety and depression in hospital patients. It has been used in a wide range of settings, including general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and outpatient clinics.
Leading clinics that use the HADS: The HADS is a widely used measure of anxiety and depression in a variety of settings, including general hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and outpatient clinics. Some of the leading clinics that use the HADS include:
- Mayo Clinic
- Johns Hopkins Hospital
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- Stanford University Medical Center
- University of California, San Francisco
- University of Chicago
- New York University Langone Health
- Cleveland Clinic
These clinics are all recognized leaders in healthcare and offer a wide range of services, including mental health care. The HADS is a valuable tool for these clinics because it can help them to identify and assess anxiety and depression in their patients.
Here are some specific examples of how the HADS is used in these clinics:
The Mayo Clinic uses the HADS to screen patients for anxiety and depression before they undergo surgery. This helps to ensure that patients who are experiencing these conditions receive the appropriate care before and after surgery.
Johns Hopkins Hospital uses the HADS to monitor patients with chronic diseases, such as cancer or heart disease. This helps to identify patients who are at risk for developing anxiety or depression, so that they can be treated early.
Massachusetts General Hospital uses the HADS to evaluate patients who are being treated for mental health conditions. This helps to track the progress of treatment and to make sure that patients are receiving the care they need.
INSTRUCTIONS:
The HADS is a self-report questionnaire that can be completed by patients in about 10 minutes. The questionnaire is available in a variety of languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German.
To complete the HADS, patients are asked to rate how much they have been bothered by each of the 14 symptoms in the past week. Symptoms include:
Anxiety: Feeling tense or wound up, having difficulty concentrating, having trouble sleeping, feeling restless or fidgety, being easily tired, having difficulty making decisions, having trouble controlling worry, feeling worthless or guilty, feeling scared or panicky, feeling hopeless.
Depression: Feeling down, having little interest or pleasure in activities, feeling tired or having little energy, having difficulty concentrating, having trouble sleeping, having changes in appetite, feeling worthless or guilty, feeling hopeless, having thoughts of death or suicide.
Patients rate each symptom on a four-point scale, with scores ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (severely).