DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semi-structured, structured interview that was developed to improve ADHD assessments in adults. This study will evaluate the criterion validity of DIVA 2.0 and its validity in conjunction with Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) criteria.
Compared to the top 20 attributes, DIVA attributes that correlate strongest with diagnosis are attention deficit for both childhood and adulthood and hyperactivity/impulsivity for adults, followed by CAARS ADHD TT1 score and IOWA personality disorders evaluation.
Symptoms
The symptoms of ADD/ADHD impact every aspect of our lives including relationships and career advancement to the daily tasks that make up our lives. That's why it is so important that our ADHD assessments adopt a holistic approach and look at how the symptoms affect every aspect of our lives. Dr. Related Web Page will begin by assessing your symptoms and medical history. She will then conduct the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to examine both the core symptoms of ADD/ADHD as well as how they have affected your life.
The DIVA is an interview instrument designed by psychiatrists and psychotherapists to assess symptoms of adult ADHD. It has been found to be highly sensitive and precise. It is also highly effective in identifying individuals suffering from the disorder. It can increase awareness and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea since it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic interview available in the country.
To conduct the DIVA, a trained clinician - often psychologists or psychiatrists will ask questions about the main symptoms of ADHD, including hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The clinician will also analyze the history of the individual as well as their childhood experiences and their impact on their present behavior. The symptoms of ADHD are not sudden. They develop over a time from childhood through teen years and into adulthood.
The DIVA can efficiently identify people suffering from ADHD because it takes into consideration both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD during childhood and into adulthood, and how those symptoms have affected an person's daily functioning in five areas of life - education and work, family/partnership relations, social activities/leisure time, and self-esteem and self-confidence. Contrary to this other screening tools, such as the WURS-brief, which was compared with the CAADID and showed low accuracy and negative predictive values.
Diagnosis
To determine the presence of ADHD in adults, it is crucial to assess the symptoms and their history. This can be done through conducting a thorough interview about childhood symptoms and a neurocognitive assessment. It is important to consider the impact that the symptoms have on the person's work and daily life. This can be evaluated through a structured medical interview, the DIVA and, in some instances, asking for information from friends and family members.
The DIVA is a semi-structured interview that was first developed for use with adults in the Netherlands. It has been redesigned to be used with adult patients in other countries, including Korea. This study examined the criterion valid of the Korean version (DIVA-5) using the clinical sample of patients with ADHD.
During the DIVA the clinician will ask about ADHD symptoms during the early years of life and into adulthood. They will also ask the age at which they first noticed symptoms and the degree of impairment triggered by these symptoms. adhd assessment will also gather a variety of sociodemographic information and inquire about any psychiatric co-morbidity.
Patients were screened for psychiatric comorbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0, the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). A clinical diagnosis of ADHD was determined by two experienced psychiatrists who used the DIVA-5 structured diagnostic interview to determine the severity of symptoms in adulthood and childhood and determine the duration of those symptoms.
The sensitivity and specificity of DIVA-5 was found to be high for both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in childhood and adulthood. This diagnostic tool has good concurrent validity when compared with the WURS scale, and fair validity when compared with three self-report ratings instruments: the ASRS (self-report rating), FAB (self-report rating) and Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
The sensitivity and specificity of the DIVA-5 was found to be high for all subtypes of ADHD in both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity in adulthood and during childhood. The accuracy of the DIVA-5's diagnostics was found to be comparable to the accuracy of clinical diagnosis that were made by two psychiatrists. This was in accordance with the sensitivity as well as specificity of earlier screening tools like ASRS and WURS.
Treatment
If you are not diagnosed with ADHD it can greatly affect your life. This can affect your relationships, academic progress as well as your work. It can also impact how you organize your day-to-day life. A diagnosis can help you determine your strengths and weaknesses as well as provide treatment options that help you manage your symptoms and mechanisms.
A qualified clinician (typically a psychiatrist or a psychologist) will conduct a structured discussion with you, using the DIVA-5 tool to assess your current symptoms. This will consist of standardised questions regarding your levels of hyperactivity, attention deficit and an impulsiveness. It will also dig into your personal history, including your childhood experiences to create an accurate picture of your symptoms.
This is essential to ensure a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. This will help us better understand your symptoms and inform your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to diagnose adult ADHD with high sensitivity and specificity. It has also been proven to have good criterion valid when compared to self-report scales, such as the Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS) or the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concurrent validity these and good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
Contrary to the more conventional methods used to assess ADHD in adults, the DIVA assessment focuses on identifying and discussing the symptoms that can be observed in the teen years and into adulthood, increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis and allowing for an easier comparison of the sociodemographic characteristics of both groups. The DIVA evaluation also offers an opportunity to think about the effects of co-occurring disorders on presentation of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist does not prescribe medication, you might need to make an appointment with a psychiatrist or a paediatrician for a more thorough evaluation and/or treatment. You may be referred to psychologists who specialize in more in-depth assessment of your symptoms and to determine if there is any co-occurring or different diagnoses. This includes assessing for comorbid conditions like anxiety and depression. This will allow your Psychologist to recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
A diagnosis of ADHD can transform your life. It provides answers to persistent problems and opens the way to effective treatment options. However, a thorough evaluation requires the expertise of experienced medical professionals. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a well-organized and extensive tool that assists to improve the accuracy of an adult ADHD diagnosis by evaluating symptoms across different life stages. It also helps identify patterns of behavior that remain and helps distinguish between ADHD symptoms and other conditions like anxiety or depression.
In an DIVA ADHD evaluation, a clinician will use an organized interview to ask a series of questions about the symptoms like hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. The doctor evaluates the severity, frequency and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect an individual in different settings. This information can be used to create an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA test is confirmed in comparison to other diagnostic tools. It has high sensitivity compared to WURS-briefs, CAA-DIDs and psychiatrist's assessments. It also has excellent reliability when it comes to assessing ADHD in five areas of daily functioning such as education and work, relationships with family and home, social contacts, and free time and hobbies.
A valid DIVA assessment requires the participation of the individual being assessed as well as their closest family members and close friends. This will help to build trust and create a therapeutic bond that is important for the success of the evaluation.
A skilled psychologist or psychiatrist who is skilled in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment will be able to provide a comprehensive report. This report will present the findings of the test and suggest a treatment plan based on the evidence.
If you suspect that you or a loved one may be suffering from ADHD Contact us for an appointment. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained to use the DIVA ADHD assessments and is able to give a thorough assessment. She will refer you to a specialist who will develop a treatment plan. Be aware that the recommended treatment approach is a combination of medication and psychotherapy.