A variety of questionnaires assess mood disturbance but many contain Modulators somatic items (eg sleep problems, loss of appetite), which are likely to reflect the patient’s presenting condition rather than any mood disturbance. The DASS was developed with somatic items excluded to address this problem specifically. It is therefore likely to provide clinicians with an accurate assessment of their patient’s symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. The DASS has excellent clinimetric properties and few limitations, however clinicians should be aware that certain patient groups (eg children, the developmentally selleckchem delayed,

or those who are taking certain medications) may have difficulty understanding the questionnaire items or responding to them in an unbiased manner. For non-English speaking patients over 25 translations of the DASS are available. Finally, we caution against using the DASS scores to independently diagnose

discrete mood disorders such as depression. The DASS is not intended to replace a complete psychological assessment. It is important to remember that DASS severity ratings are based on mean population scores obtained from large, relatively heterogenous samples. On this basis, an individual severity rating reflects how far scores Dasatinib concentration are positioned from these population means; the further away the score is from the population mean, the more severe the symptoms. If DASS scores suggest that a patient has significant symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress, then referral to a qualified colleague with experience in managing mood disturbance

is required. For more information almost on the DASS the developers have provided a comprehensive FAQ section on their web page, along with an overview and link to download the questionnaire. “
“Latest update: August 2009. Date of next update: 2014. Patient group: Patients aged under 16 years presenting with arthritic symptoms and those diagnosed with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Intended audience: Health professionals (general practitioners and allied health including physiotherapy) in the primary health care setting. Additional versions: Nil. Expert working group: Two working groups were involved: the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Working Group consisted of 8 health care professionals (representing medicine, nursing, public health, and physiotherapy) and a consumer representative. The Australian Paediatric Rheumatology Working Group consisted of 7 medical fellows. Funded by: RACGP and the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. Consultation with: Draft versions of the guidelines were available on the RACGP website for public consultation, and over 200 stakeholder groups were targeted specifically. Approved by: National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, RACGP. Location: http://www.racgp.org.au/guidelines/juvenileidiopathicarthritis.