Standardised outcome measures/screening tools
This page provides a list of some of the standardised outcome measures (screening tools) available. They are particularly useful where there is evidence of yellow flags and you need to confirm those indications. Standardised outcome measures, used at regular intervals, will allow you to assess change in the status of your patient.
You should have a clear rationale behind your choice of questionnaire – it must specifically suit your purpose or concern. The results of the screening will determine whether you should refer your patient to a clinical psychologist.
When planning your assessments, you may need your patient to come in a little earlier to complete a questionnaire.
It is recommended that you become familiar with a few of the best available measures and use them regularly. This way you become practised in their administration, scoring and interpretation and their utility for indicating the need for adjustments in the nature, intensity and duration of interventions.
Functional status measures
These are measures of a person’s day-to-day behaviour when undertaking activities in the areas of work, home and recreation.
Surprisingly, there are no Australian norms or widely accepted and used measures for activities of daily living for people with mental health problems. Practitioners usually adapt questionnaire items used in scales measuring pain and disability. Two such examples are the Örebro Questionnaire (also known as the Acute Low Back Pain Screening Questionnaire), and Multidimensional Pain Inventory.
Most outcome measurement tools cover more than one component of the World Health Organisation International Classification of Functioning, but can be loosely classified related to their main purpose and component of measurement:
Body functions and body structures
Activity and participation
Personal and environmental factors
Health status measures/screening tools
Perceived health status is an important mediator of outcome and predictor of wellbeing in people; it can operate independently from behaviour, impairment or disability. Two people may have similar levels of disability but the person with poor perceived health status will function less well and continue to utilise health services to a greater extent.
The Health Outcomes Short Form SF-12 is the most commonly used measure of health status in Australia.
The Victorian Transport Accident Commission has developed a useful table to assist the the selection and interpretation of some of the above measures.
Psychologist clinical assessment tools
Commonly available tests for psychosocial assessment of pain, depression, anxiety and coping skills (eg, TAMPA, DASS, HADS) are available for members of the Institute of Private Practising Psychologists (IPPP) or the Australian Psychological Society on their websites.
Centre for Allied Health Evidence Outcomes Calculator
The Centre for Allied Health Evidence has developed ‘outcomes calculator’ software, free to registered users.