Comparing Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 in schizophrenia

Scott Gspandl; Ryan P Peirson; Ramzi W Nahhas; Tracey Goodman Skale; Douglas S Lehrer

doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.033

Comparing Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 in schizophrenia

Psychiatry Res. 2018 Jan:259:251-253. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.033. Epub 2017 Nov 5.

Authors

Scott Gspandl¹, Ryan P Peirson², Ramzi W Nahhas³, Tracey Goodman Skale⁴, Douglas S Lehrer⁵

Affiliations

¹ Harding Hospital, The Ohio State University, 1670 Upham Drive, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
² Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, First Floor, East Medical Plaza, 627 South Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, Dayton, OH 45417-1461, USA. Electronic address: ryan.peirson@wright.edu.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, First Floor, East Medical Plaza, 627 South Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, Dayton, OH 45417-1461, USA; Division of Epidemiology and Biostastics, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, 3123 Research Boulevard, Suite 200, Kettering, OH 45420-4006, USA.
⁴ Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services, 1501 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH 45206, USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Boonshoft School of Medicine, Wright State University, First Floor, East Medical Plaza, 627 South Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, Dayton, OH 45417-1461, USA; Summit Behavioral Healthcare, 1101 Summit Road, Cincinnati, OH 45237, USA.

PMID: 29091824
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2017.10.033

Abstract

WHODAS-2.0 is a suggested replacement to the GAF in DSM-5. This study's purpose was to assess their comparative correlation in adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. 42 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were administered both tools and the PANSS. Pearson product moment correlations were computed and the different methods compared using bootstrap. There was no significant correlation between raw WHODAS-2.0 and GAF scores for all participants and a modest correlation between corrected WHODAS-2.0 and GAF scores for outpatients. The WHODAS-2.0 and GAF did not correlate when WHODAS-2.0 was self-rated, and only modestly correlated when clinician-rater corrected.

Keywords: Disability; Rating scales; Symptom severity.

Publication types

Comparative Study

MeSH terms

Adult
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Disability Evaluation*
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / standards*
Psychotic Disorders / diagnosis*
Reproducibility of Results
Schizophrenia / diagnosis*
World Health Organization