Screening Test

What is a screening test?

In psychology and medicine, screening serves quick, low-cost identification of people likely to have a given concern (depression, anxiety, ADHD, eating disorders). It is NOT a diagnosis — it's a sieve that separates "worth further investigation" from "probably fine".

Why not a diagnosis?

Diagnosis requires: clinical interview, assessment of duration, ruling out other causes (somatic, medication), evaluation of functioning. A screening tool is 5–20 questions — it returns "moderate likelihood of depression", not "diagnosis F32 per ICD-10".

Sensitivity vs specificity

A good screening has high sensitivity (few false negatives — catches almost everyone affected) but accepts lower specificity (more false positives — cheaper cost of over-diagnosis than missing). That's why PHQ-9 > 10 = "consider a consultation", not "you have depression".

Most common

Depression: PHQ-9, PHQ-2 (short). Anxiety: GAD-7, GAD-2. PTSD: PCL-5, PC-PTSD-5. Adult ADHD: ASRS-v1.1. Alcohol: AUDIT. Burnout: MBI, OLBI.