EVIDENCE FOR LIMITED VALIDITY OF THE REVISED GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONING SCALE

The study examined the concurrent validity of the revised Global Asses sment of Functioning (GAF) scale, which is highly similar to the Socia l and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS) in DSM-IV and which is designed to measure patients' functioning and not their clini cal symptoms, Psychiatrists used the revised GAF to rate 337 psychiatr ic inpatients; the ratings were compared with nurses' ratings of the s ame sample using Lehman's Quality of Life Scale, Ratings on the revise d GAF were most strongly correlated with ratings of clinical symptoms, not functioning. Reliance on the GAF as the only tool to assess patie nts' functioning may be problematic.