• Mental health
  • General medicine

GAD-7 score

Severity of anxiety symptoms

The GAD-7 is a self-administered questionnaire for identifying and monitoring symptoms of generalized anxiety in adults. It measures the frequency of seven symptoms over the past two weeks and provides an overall severity score. It does not, on its own, allow for a diagnosis to be made.

Number of questions
7 questions
Approximate duration
2 minutes
Population
Adults
Modality
Self-administered questionnaire, 4 frequency levels per item

QuestionnaireGAD-7

SELF-QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire explores seven manifestations of anxiety over the past two weeks: nervousness, uncontrollable worries, excessive worry, difficulty relaxing, restlessness, irritability, and apprehension. Each item is scored from 0 to 3 depending on the frequency experienced.

Are you patient?

You can fill out this questionnaire yourself and present the result to your healthcare professional. It is used to describe your symptoms, not to make a diagnosis.

Question 1 / 7

1

Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by feeling nervous, anxious or on edge?

Terms of contract

The administration assumes that the patient is referring to the last two weeks. An item left unanswered must not be counted as an absence of a symptom.

Score interpretationGAD-7

Each response is scored from 0 to 3 depending on the frequency: not at all (0), several days (1), more than half the days (2), nearly every day (3). The total score ranges from 0 to 21.

Total score

First reading

  • 0 to 4

    Minimal anxiety

  • 5 to 9

    Mild anxiety

  • 10 to 14

    Moderate anxiety

  • 15 to 21

    Severe anxiety

From 10 points onwards, an additional clinical assessment is recommended. The threshold used may vary depending on the population and the context of administration.

The GAD-7 describes the frequency of anxiety symptoms reported over the last two weeks. It cannot, on its own, be used to diagnose an anxiety disorder. The result must be interpreted in light of the clinical context and functional impairment. The GAD-7 does not assess suicide risk, which requires a specific evaluation when suspected.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and references

Robert L. Spitzer and collaborators

Initial validation: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2006.

Questionnaires and associated scores

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