Validation of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) among Chinese people with epilepsy

• Early detection and management of anxiety in PWE is crucial for achieving better QOL.
• For anxiety in PWE, validated screening tools were still lacking.
• We proved the GAD-7 a reliable and valid screening tool for GAD in Chinese PWE.
• At a cut-off score of >6 the GAD-7 had a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 91.4%.
• We recommended >6 as the optimal cut-off score for GAD-7 applied in Chinese PWE.

ObjectiveTo validate the Chinese version of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) in Chinese people with epilepsy (PWE).MethodsA consecutive cohort of PWE from the West China Hospital was recruited. Each patient received a psychiatric evaluation comprising the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the GAD-7. Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected. Cronbach's α coefficient was calculated and receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis was conducted.ResultsA total of 213 PWE completed the psychiatric evaluation. The GAD-7 was easily understood and quickly completed by all participants. Fifty patients (23.5%) had GAD according to the MINI criteria. Cronbach's α coefficient for the GAD-7 was 0.888. ROC analysis showed an area under the curve of 0.974 (95% CI = 0.956–0.993). At a cut-off score of >6, the GAD-7 achieved the largest Youden index of 0.854 with a sensitivity of 94%, a specificity of 91.4%, a positive predictive value of 77% and a negative predictive value of 98%.SignificanceThe Chinese version of the GAD-7 is a valuable tool for screening for GAD in Chinese PWE.