GAD-7 Anxiety Test

About the GAD-7 Anxiety Test

The GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale) is a seven-question anxiety questionnaire from the authors of the PHQ-9. Each question asks how often a problem has bothered you over the last 2 weeks, from not at all (0) to nearly every day (3), so the total runs from 0 to 21: minimal (0–4), mild (5–9), moderate (10–14) or severe (15–21). A score of 10 or more is the recommended point to talk about your symptoms with a clinician.

You can start with the GAD-2 quick screen, the first two questions, and continue to all seven. Support lines for your country are on the page, your answers are never stored or sent anywhere, and you can print or copy a summary to take to your doctor.

How the GAD-7 is scored

Each answer scores 0 (not at all), 1 (several days), 2 (more than half the days) or 3 (nearly every day), and the seven scores are added up. The instruction manual gives scores of 5, 10 and 15 as the cut points for mild, moderate and severe anxiety:

• 0–4: minimal
• 5–9: mild
• 10–14: moderate
• 15–21: severe

What a score of 10 or more means

When screening for anxiety disorders, the manual recommends 10 or more as the point for further evaluation, and it calls 15 or more a “red flag” for people in whom active treatment is probably warranted. In the original study in 15 US primary care clinics, where 965 patients were also interviewed by mental health professionals, 89% of people with generalised anxiety disorder scored 10 or more (sensitivity), and 82% of people without it scored below 10 (specificity).

The GAD-7 was designed for generalised anxiety disorder, but the manual notes that it also works moderately well as a screen for panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. A high score is a reason to see a doctor, not a diagnosis; a low score does not rule anxiety out.

The GAD-2 quick screen

The first two questions, feeling nervous, anxious or on edge, and not being able to stop or control worrying, are the two core symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder. Together they form the GAD-2, scored 0 to 6. The manual recommends that a score of 3 or more lead to the full GAD-7 and a clinical interview. In a study of 965 primary care patients, both the GAD-7 and the GAD-2 performed well as screens for all four of these anxiety disorders. On this page you can switch from the quick screen to all seven questions without losing your answers.

Getting support

Anxiety that feels overwhelming deserves help now, not only after a test. These services are confidential:

• India: Tele-MANAS, 14416 or 1-800-891-4416, toll-free, 24/7.
• United States: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988, or chat online.
• Canada: 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline, call or text 9-8-8.
• UK and Ireland: Samaritans, 116 123, free from any phone, day or night.
• Australia: Lifeline, 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14.
• New Zealand: 1737, call or text 1737.
• Anywhere else: Find A Helpline lists free, confidential helplines in more than 175 countries.

If you have thoughts of harming yourself, or you are in danger, call your local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency department. The PHQ-9 includes a question on these thoughts.

Sources

• The questions, answers and credit: the official GAD-7 form from PHQ Screeners.
• Scoring, bands, the recommended cut point, the GAD-2 and the other anxiety disorders: the PHQ and GAD-7 Instruction Manual.
• Validation: Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B, A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7, Archives of Internal Medicine; Kroenke K et al., Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection, Annals of Internal Medicine.
• Support lines: the official sites linked above.

Limitations

• The GAD-7 is a screening and severity questionnaire, not a diagnosis. A diagnosis needs a clinician, who also rules out a physical illness, a medicine or another substance as the cause of the symptoms.
• It asks only about the last 2 weeks.
• It has no question about self-harm. If you have such thoughts, use the support lines on this page and consider the PHQ-9.
• This is the English form for adults; official translations are on the PHQ Screeners site, and the manual notes that few translations have been validated against psychiatric interviews.
• The score appears only when every question is answered: missing answers are never guessed.

Privacy

On this device: nothing is sent

Your answers stay in the page while it is open: they are never saved on your device or sent to MySmartCoPilot or anyone else, and they are gone when you leave, reload or close the page. The printed, copied or downloaded summary is created only when you ask for it.