The Psychiatric Evaluation and Evidence-Based Rating Scales
Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS)
SDS is a 4-item self-report evaluation tool that is used to examine the functional impairment in social life, work/school, and family life. The tool rates the extent to which the symptoms impair the social life, work/school, and family life of the patient. The SDS tool can be filled by patients while in the waiting room, as it focuses on three group activities that include work abilities, home management, the social life, and the capacity to form and maintain relationships Sheehan et al., 2016).The Psychiatric Evaluation and Evidence-Based Rating Scales.
The first three items ask the patient to indicate the level at which the symptoms disrupt their regular activities from a scale of 0 to 10 for each item. The maximum possible score in the SDS tool is 30. The higher the score, the higher the level of functional impairment (Sheehan et al., 2016). The last two items ask respondents regarding the number of days the symptoms caused them to miss or to be underproductive at work or school. SDS is effective in assessing mental disorders such as bipolar disorder, depressive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders, and substance dependency disorder (Lipsitz et al., 2020).The Psychiatric Evaluation and Evidence-Based Rating Scales.
A PMHNP needs to understand adequately assessment tools such as SDS, including their limitations. SDS can help the PMHNP to determine the severity of a mental disorder and if the patient is responding to treatment. therefore, SDS can also be used to establish the efficacy of the prescribed medications. This means that the tool also informs when and if the patient needs any treatment adjustment (Sheehan et al., 2016). The Psychiatric Evaluation and Evidence-Based Rating Scales.
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