Severity Measure for Panic Disorder - Adult

Usage For further clinical evaluation and research, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is offering a number of “emerging measures” in Section III of DSM-5-TR (APA, 2024). These patient assessment measures were developed to be administered at the initial patient interview and to monitor treatment progress, thus serving to advance the use of initial symptomatic status and patient reported outcome (PRO) information, as well as the use of “anchored” severity assessment instruments. There are four types of measures classified by the APA. One type, called severity measures, are disorder-specific, corresponding closely to criteria that constitute the disorder definition. The Severity Measure for Panic Disorder - Adult is a disorder-specific severity measure for panic disorder (PD) that can complement the clinical assessment of patients with PD (Craske et al, 2013; Locke, Kirst & Shultz, 2015). The assessment scale may be administered to individuals who have received a diagnosis of PD or who have a clinically significant syndrome that falls short of meeting full criteria.  Frequency of UseTo track changes in the severity of the individual’s panic disorder over time, the measure may be completed at regular intervals as clinically indicated, depending on the stability of the individual’s symptoms and treatment status. Consistently high scores on a particular domain may indicate significant and problematic areas for the individual that might warrant further assessment, treatment, and follow-up. Your clinical judgment should guide your decision. These measures should be used to enhance clinical decision-making and not as the sole basis for making a clinical diagnosis. Further information on these measures can be found in DSM-5-TR. Instructions, scoring information, and interpretation guidelines from the APA are provided here.. Summary Instructions to Clinicians The Severity Measure for Panic Disorder—Adult is a 10-item measure that assesses the severity of symptoms of panic disorder in individuals age 18 and older. The measure was designed to be completed by an individual upon receiving a diagnosis of panic disorder (or clinically significant panic disorder symptoms) and thereafter, prior to follow-up visits with the clinician. Each item asks the individual receiving care to rate the severity of his or her panic disorder during the past 7 days. Scoring and Interpretation The 10-item questions ask about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about panic attacks. A panic attack is an episode of intense fear that sometimes comes out of the blue (for no apparent reason). The symptoms of a panic attack include: a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, and fear of losing control or dying. Each item on the measure is rated on a 5-point scale.0=Never1=Occasionally2=Half of the time3=Most of the time4=All of the time The total score can range from 0 to 40, with higher scores indicating greater severity of panic disorder. The raw scores on the 10 items are summed to obtain a total raw score. In addition, the average total score is calculated. The average total score is calculated by dividing the raw total score by number of items in the measure (i.e., 10). The average total score reduces the overall score to a 5-point scale, which allows the clinician to think of the severity of the individual’s panic disorder in terms of none (0), mild (1), moderate (2), severe (3), or extreme (4). The use of the average total score was found to be reliable, easy to use, and clinically useful to the clinicians in the DSM-5 Field Trials. .

 Inclusion CriteriaNew or existing panic disorder diagnosis (or clinically significant panic disorder symptoms)Age ≥ 18 years The following questions ask about thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about panic attacks. A panic attack is an episode of intense fear that sometimes comes out of the blue (for no apparent reason). The symptoms of panic attack include: a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, and fear of losing control or dying. Ask: Rate the severity of your panic disorder during the past 7 days.