Standardized clinical evaluation of depressive and anxious symptomatology

The main standardized instruments for clinical assessment of depression and anxiety are diagnostic criteria, rating scales, and mental tests, mainly questionnaires. The systematic use of rigorous diagnostic criteria is useful in recruiting sufficiently homogeneous patient groups for clinical research. The polydiagnostic system represents, in this perspective, a stimulating trend of research, as it is not linked to a sole nosographic reference system. Some rating scales have recently been developed in Europe such as the MADRS, the Retardation Scale ERD of Widlöcher, the depression rating scale of Pichot, and the mania-depression scale of AMDP system. In the field of anxiety, standardized tools being used more and more are the Sheehan scales battery, some fear rating scales such as the FSS III, the brief scale of Tyrer, the anxiety scale from AMDP system, the BATE questionnaire of De Bonis, or the checklist of evaluation of somatic symptoms (CHESS). The sensitivity to changes of these different tools is their main value.