What does the GAD-7 screen for?

• A. Depressive symptoms.
• B. Sleep quality.
• C. Generalized anxiety symptoms.
• D. Panic attack history.

Answer: (C)

The GAD-7 is a brief screening tool specifically designed to detect generalized anxiety symptoms. It asks about seven common anxiety experiences over the past two weeks, focusing on excessive worry, restlessness, trouble relaxing, being easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, irritability, and physical symptoms like muscle tension, with the goal of capturing how often these symptoms occur and how much they interfere with daily life. The score helps gauge the level of anxiety symptom burden and signals when a more thorough evaluation for an anxiety disorder is warranted.

This focus on persistent worry and related impairment is why it’s not assessing depressive symptoms, which are more directly measured by tools like the PHQ-9; it’s not a sleep quality measure, which would require a sleep-specific instrument; and it isn’t a tool for documenting panic attack history, which would be covered by measures targeting panic disorder. A high GAD-7 score indicates potential generalized anxiety that should be followed up with a clinician to determine diagnosis and appropriate treatment.