Anxiety can refer to things such as "a mental state...a drive...a response to a particular situation…a personality trait...and a psychiatric disorder.
"[1] Though it was one of the first anxiety rating scales to be published, the HAM-A remains widely used by clinicians.
All of the thirteen variables were described by succinct statements and included on a sheet that was used by an interviewer for assessing a patient.
The first version of the scale was only a start, and as Hamilton stated, "Some of the variables are obviously a rag-bag of oddments and need further investigation."
The scale is intended for adults, adolescents, and children and should take approximately ten to fifteen minutes to administer.
This description is in the form of a short phrase that elaborates on the item and provides specificity to the clinician regarding the appropriate evaluation.
The collaboration of each of these independently rated criteria are meant to evaluate a patient's anxiety severity.
Upon the completion of the evaluation, the clinician compiles a total, composite score based upon the summation of each of the 14 individually rated items.
Issues that arise when using Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) have to do with how the clinician interprets the results, changes in the classification of anxiety disorder, symptoms being assessed, and newer measurements that may be more suitable for the particular subject.
Interpretation of the subjects response may also be hindered by the clinician even when methods are present to prevent interviewer biases.
The current HAM-A scale is poor at showing a difference between generalized anxiety disorder and depression due to changes in the DSM, newer measurements, and possible clinician error.
[9] Computer administered Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale has shown to be almost as effective as the clinician-administered version.
This statistical significance was not found in the mean score difference in subjects with anxiety disorders.