K-6 (K6 Brief Screening Scale)
Type of Tool: Screening
Repeatability: Repeatable by Clinician’s Judgment
Description: The K-6 was designed to discriminate cases of serious mental illness (SMI) from non-cases. The measure is designed to be sensitive around the threshold for the clinically significant range of nonspecific distress.
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*Kessler, R. C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L. J., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D. K., Normand, S. L., et al. (2002). Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32: 959-976.
Measure: M.I.N.I. (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview)
Type of Tool: Diagnostic
Repeatability: Initial Interview
Description: The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) is a short, structured, diagnostic interview, developed jointly by psychiatrists and clinicians in the United States and Europe, for DSM-IV and ICD-10 psychiatric disorders. With an administration time of approximately 15 minutes, it was designed to meet the need for a short but accurate structured psychiatric interview for multicenter clinical trials and epidemiology studies, and to be used as a first step in outcome tracking in clinical settings.
The interview consists of 16 modules, each with about 8-10 questions, which assess the symptoms for a variety of disorders, including: major depressive episode, dysthymia, suicidality, manic episode, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, PTSD, alcohol dependence or abuse, substance dependence or abuse, psychotic disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervoa, generalized anxiety disorder, and antisocial personality disorder. Most items refer to specific symptoms of each disorder and ask for current experiences of those symptoms (last two weeks or last month) and lifetime experiences of those symptoms.
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Harborview Modification of the PSAS (Psychiatric Symptom Assessment Scale – Long and short forms)
Type of Tool: Screening
Repeatability: Used to Determine Hospital Admittance (Initial Interview)
Description: Harborview’s modification of the Psychiatric Symptom Assessment scale assesses patients’ level of psychiatric function through examining: physical indicators of impaired functioning (appearance, behavior, and speech), affect, mood, habits, and cognitive and psychosocial functioning.
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*Roy-Byrne, P., Dagadaskis, C., Ries, R., Decker, K., Bolte, M. A., Scher, M., Brinkley, J., Gallagher, M., Patrick, D. & Mark, H. (1995). A psychiatrist-rated battery of measures for assessing the clinical status of psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatric Services, 46(4): 347-352.
*Roy-Byrne, P., Russo, J., Rabin, L., Fuller, K., Jaffe, C., Ries, R., Dagadaskis, C. & Avery, D. (1998). A brief medical necessity scale for mental disorders: Reliability, validity, and clinical utility. The Journal of Behavioral Healther Services & Research, 25(4): 412-424.