Validity of self-reporting questionnaire and Rahim Anxiety Depression Scale

Objective: The Self-Reporting Questionnaire and Rahim Anxiety-Depression Sc ale are instruments used for screening minor psychiatric morbidity, The aim of this study is to test and compare their validity and reliability in a s ample of Saudi adult diabetic patients, Methods: A random sample of 226 adult diabetics and an equal number of matc hed normal subjects were interviewed using a structured questionnaire inclu ding socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as the Self-Re porting Questionnaire and Rahim Anxiety-Depression Scale. A sub-sample of 4 9 patients were further clinically assessed according to DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. Results: Indices of inter-rater and test-retest reliability were in the ran ge of 84% to 88%, Validity measures, reached by comparing the results of th e screening tests with the blind clinical judgement of qualified psychiatri sts, showed ranges of sensitivity between 70% and 94%, specificity between 72% and 84%, overall accuracy rate between 71% and 84%,and odds ratio betwe en 6.3 to 48. Factor Analysis extracted 5 factors: one of predominantly dep ressive symptoms, 2 of somatic complaints, one of psychic anxiety, and one of neurasthenic manifestations. Compared to Self-Reporting Questionnaire, R ahim Anxiety-Depression Scale gave consistently higher values in all tested indices of validity. Conclusion: The 3 instruments seem reliable and valid in screening psychiat ric morbidity in diabetic patients. Rahim Anxiety-Depression Scale, which i ncorporates all the items of Self-Reporting Questionnaire and Somatization Sub-scale, was found superior to Self-Reporting Questionnaire alone, and it allowed for probing the severity, as well as the frequency, of reported sy mptoms.