PMID- 7620753
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19950831
LR  - 20220410
IS  - 0007-1250 (Print)
IS  - 0007-1250 (Linking)
VI  - 166
IP  - 5
DP  - 1995 May
TI  - A brief mental health outcome scale-reliability and validity of the Global 
      Assessment of Functioning (GAF).
PG  - 654-9
AB  - BACKGROUND: The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a quick and simple 
      measure of overall psychological disturbance. However, there is little research 
      on the reliability and validity of this measure in severely mentally ill 
      populations. METHOD: Multidisciplinary keyworkers assessed 103 patients at 
      monthly intervals over a 6-month period. Overall GAF scores were obtained, with 
      additional separate ratings for symptoms and disability. These were compared with 
      changes in antipsychotic medication and support needs over the same period. 
      RESULTS: Satisfactory reliability was obtained for total GAF score and for 
      symptom and disability measures, in spite of raters having only one brief 
      training session. All GAF scores were associated with current support needs of 
      patients. Symptom and disability scores were associated with changes in 
      antipsychotic medication in the previous month. Only symptom score was associated 
      with increases in antipsychotic medication at time of rating. CONCLUSION: GAF 
      proved to be a reliable and, within the limits of the indicators used, a valid 
      measure of psychiatric disturbance in our sample of the severely mentally ill. 
      Differences in relationships between the three GAF scores and medication/support 
      needs indicate the usefulness of obtaining all three scores for monitoring levels 
      and type of psychiatric disturbance in this population.
FAU - Jones, S H
AU  - Jones SH
AD  - Institute of Psychiatry, London.
FAU - Thornicroft, G
AU  - Thornicroft G
FAU - Coffey, M
AU  - Coffey M
FAU - Dunn, G
AU  - Dunn G
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - Br J Psychiatry
JT  - The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
JID - 0342367
RN  - 0 (Antipsychotic Agents)
SB  - IM
MH  - Activities of Daily Living/psychology
MH  - Antipsychotic Agents/adverse effects/therapeutic use
MH  - Bipolar Disorder/diagnosis/psychology/rehabilitation
MH  - Depressive Disorder/diagnosis/psychology/rehabilitation
MH  - Disability Evaluation
MH  - Follow-Up Studies
MH  - Health Services Needs and Demand
MH  - Humans
MH  - Mental Disorders/diagnosis/psychology/*rehabilitation
MH  - Observer Variation
MH  - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/diagnosis/psychology/rehabilitation
MH  - Patient Admission
MH  - Patient Care Team
MH  - Personality Disorders/diagnosis/psychology/rehabilitation
MH  - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/*statistics & numerical data
MH  - Psychometrics
MH  - Reproducibility of Results
MH  - Schizophrenia/diagnosis/rehabilitation
MH  - Schizophrenic Psychology
MH  - Social Support
MH  - *Treatment Outcome
EDAT- 1995/05/01 00:00
MHDA- 1995/05/01 00:01
CRDT- 1995/05/01 00:00
PHST- 1995/05/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1995/05/01 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1995/05/01 00:00 [entrez]
AID - S0007125000074638 [pii]
AID - 10.1192/bjp.166.5.654 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Br J Psychiatry. 1995 May;166(5):654-9. doi: 10.1192/bjp.166.5.654.