3/21/2023 0 Comments Beck anxiety inventory![]() 2 EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research (EMGO+), PO Box 7057, Amsterdam, 1007 MB, The Netherlands. We also expected patients with co-morbid disorders to score higher than patients with no co-morbidity.Īnna DT Muntingh 1,2,3,4, Christina M van der Feltz-Cornelis 1,4,5, Harm WJ van Marwijk 2,3, Philip Spinhoven 6,7, Brenda WJH Penninx 2,7,8,9 and Anton JLM van Balkom 2,8ġ Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction (Trimbos Institute), PO Box 725, Utrecht, 3500 AS, The Netherlands. Patients with a panic disorder were expected to score higher than patients in the other anxiety disorder groups. It was hypothesized that the BAI scores of patients with an anxiety disorder would be higher than the BAI scores of healthy controls or depressed patients. ![]() The diagnostic groups were separated into patients with no co-morbidity and patients with co-morbidity, to ensure homogeneity of the groups. The mean scores of several patient groups were compared: healthy controls, patients with one anxiety disorder, patients with multiple anxiety disorders, patients with one depressive disorder, and patients with co-morbid anxiety-depression. In the present study, we investigated whether the BAI reflects the severity of anxiety in primary care patients with different anxiety disorders. However, in these studies the authors questioned the results because of limitations in the methodology. In terms of differences in the BAI scores of anxious and depressed patients, a large difference was found in the original validation study, but in two later studies no difference was found. The results of earlier studies suggest a substantial overlap of the BAI with depressive symptoms, illustrated by a moderate correlation between the BAI and depression scales. Even though in primary care this might be of less importance than in research settings, it is important to know whether the BAI only measures anxiety or whether it is also sensitive to depressive symptomatology. Furthermore, none of the previous BAI studies have focused on primary care populations.Īnother presumed quality of the BAI is its ability to discriminate anxiety from depression. Remarkably, no study has specifically investigated the co-morbidity of anxiety disorders and how this influences BAI scores, even though co-morbidity occurs frequently. Either way, patients with panic disorder and patients with other anxiety disorders have been found to score significantly higher than patients with no anxiety disorder. ![]() The results of several studies have found that patients with panic disorder score higher on the BAI than patients with for example generalized anxiety disorder. However, the BAI has been disputed for its focus on psychophysiological symptoms linked to panic. Since its development, the BAI has been widely used in clinical research in mental health care, mainly as a measure of general anxiety. Considering its brevity, simplicity, and presumed ability to measure general anxiety, the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) might be a good candidate for use as a severity indicator. However, extensive testing for different forms of anxiety is also not feasible during the short consultations in primary care. panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder). General rating scales may not be specific enough to assess the severity of a specific anxiety disorder (i.e. However, we first have to determine which questionnaires can be used as severity indicators in primary care and what their characteristics are.Īs anxiety disorders differ in type and symptoms, assessing the severity of anxiety in general may be more difficult than assessing the severity of depression. For similar reasons the use of severity scales to assess anxiety symptoms in primary care might be advocated. Moreover, in some countries incentives are offered when a validated instrument is used at the start of and during the treatment of patients diagnosed with depression. higher prescription rates of antidepressant medication and increased referral to secondary care). Furthermore, when questionnaires to assess severity are used, higher severity scores are related to better care (i.e. With regard to depression, the use of severity indicators in primary care is supported by the results of studies showing that patients value the use of questionnaires as a supplement to the diagnosis made by their general practitioner and as evidence that their problems are taken seriously. To improve anxiety management, assessment of the severity of the anxiety (and subsequent monitoring) is recommended by researchers and also in clinical guidelines. ![]() In primary care, many patients present with anxiety symptoms but these are seldom systematically assessed. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |