PMID- 25598769
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240322
IS  - 1573-4005 (Print)
IS  - 1875-6441 (Electronic)
IS  - 1573-4005 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 4
DP  - 2014 Nov
TI  - Collecting Information for Rating Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF): Sources 
      of Information and Methods for Information Collection.
PG  - 330-347
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is an assessment instrument 
      that is known worldwide. It is widely used for rating the severity of illness. 
      Results from evaluations in psychiatry should characterize the patients. Rating 
      of GAF is based on collected information. The aim of the study is to identify the 
      factors involved in collecting information that is relevant for rating GAF, and 
      gaps in knowledge where it is likely that further development would play a role 
      for improved scoring. METHODS: A literature search was conducted with a 
      combination of thorough hand search and search in the bibliographic databases 
      PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and Campbell Collaboration Library of 
      Systematic Reviews. RESULTS: Collection of information for rating GAF depends on 
      two fundamental factors: the sources of information and the methods for 
      information collection. Sources of information are patients, informants, health 
      personnel, medical records, letters of referral and police records about violence 
      and substance abuse. Methods for information collection include the many 
      different types of interview - unstructured, semi-structured, structured, 
      interviews for Axis I and II disorders, semistructured interviews for rating GAF, 
      and interviews of informants - as well as instruments for rating symptoms and 
      functioning, and observation. The different sources of information, and methods 
      for collection, frequently result in inconsistencies in the information 
      collected. The variation in collected information, and lack of a generally 
      accepted algorithm for combining collected information, is likely to be important 
      for rated GAF values, but there is a fundamental lack of knowledge about the 
      degree of importance. CONCLUSIONS: Research to improve GAF has not reached a high 
      level. Rated GAF values are likely to be influenced by both the sources of 
      information used and the methods employed for information collection, but the 
      lack of research-based information about these influences is fundamental. Further 
      development of GAF is feasible and proposals for this are presented.
FAU - I H, Monrad Aas
AU  - I H MA
AD  - Research Unit, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Vestfold Hospital Trust, 
      PO Box 2267, 3103 Tonsberg, Norway.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United Arab Emirates
TA  - Curr Psychiatry Rev
JT  - Current psychiatry reviews
JID - 101240297
PMC - PMC4287015
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Collecting information
OT  - GAF
OT  - Global Assessment of Functioning
OT  - methodology
OT  - psychiatry
OT  - rating
OT  - severity of illness.
EDAT- 2015/01/20 06:00
MHDA- 2015/01/20 06:01
PMCR- 2015/01/08
CRDT- 2015/01/20 06:00
PHST- 2013/01/11 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2013/06/18 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2013/12/06 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2015/01/20 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/01/20 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2015/01/20 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2015/01/08 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - CPSR-10-330 [pii]
AID - 10.2174/1573400509666140102000243 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Curr Psychiatry Rev. 2014 Nov;10(4):330-347. doi: 
      10.2174/1573400509666140102000243.