Psychiatric screening tools and diagnostic criteria
Screening tools for psychiatric disorders may help to inform a psychiatric assessment, though they do not provide a diagnosis. If a presentation is complex (ie assessment and management would benefit from standardised assessment), general practitioners should refer to a clinician (eg psychologist, psychiatrist, paediatrician) with experience in intellectual disability for standardised assessment with a validated tool, for example:
- Moss-PAS (Moss Psychiatric Assessment Schedules, previously Psychiatric Assessment Schedules for Adults with Developmental Disabilities [PAS-ADD])
- Glasgow Depression Scale for people with Learning Disability (GDS-LD) (self-report and family-report tool available)
- Glasgow Anxiety Scale for people with Intellectual Disability (GAS-ID).
The mini–PAS-ADD may be useful to support workers and family trying to access mental health services (may help with advocating for access).
Other tools include the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), Developmental Behaviour Checklist (DBC), Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and the Depression in Adults with Intellectual Disability Checklist produced by the Centre for Developmental Disability Health in Victoria.
Standard diagnostic criteria (eg Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-5], International Classification of Diseases [ICD-10]), as outlined in Psychiatric assessment, can be applied for people with severe intellectual disability or communication impairment, although the criteria have not been validated in the developmental disability population.
If further clarification is needed, consider consulting diagnostic criteria adapted for use in developmental disability: the Diagnostic Manual – Intellectual Disability (DM-ID-2)1, which relates to DSM-5; the Diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders for use with adults with learning disabilities/mental retardation (DC-LD)2 relates to ICD-10.