Published in

Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE, 7(7), p. e38480, 2012

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038480

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Single-Item Screening for Agoraphobic Symptoms: Validation of a Web-Based Audiovisual Screening Instrument

Journal article published in 2012 by Wouter van Ballegooijen, Heleen Riper, Tara Donker ORCID, Katherina Martin Abello, Katherina Martin Abello, Isaac Marks, Pim Cuijpers ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Green circle
Postprint: archiving allowed
Upload
Green circle
Published version: archiving allowed
Upload
Policy details
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The advent of web-based treatments for anxiety disorders creates a need for quick and valid online screening instruments, suitable for a range of social groups. This study validates a single-item multimedia screening instrument for agoraphobia, part of the Visual Screener for Common Mental Disorders (VS-CMD), and compares it with the text-based agoraphobia items of the PDSS-SR. The study concerned 85 subjects in an RCT of the effects of web-based therapy for panic symptoms. The VS-CMD item and items 4 and 5 of the PDSS-SR were validated by comparing scores to the outcomes of the CIDI diagnostic interview. Screening for agoraphobia was found moderately valid for both the multimedia item (sensitivity.81, specificity.66, AUC.734) and the text-based items (AUC.607–.697). Single-item multimedia screening for anxiety disorders should be further developed and tested in the general population and in patient, illiterate and immigrant samples.