Panic Disorder Screener (PADIS)
Summary
Usage: No permission required - please cite reference
This scale is designed to screen individuals in the community for presence of panic disorder and severity of panic disorder symptoms.
A sudden feeling of anxiety, fear, discomfort or uneasiness may indicate a panic episode. A panic episode occurs unexpectedly, peaks within 10 minutes and includes four or more of the following sensations at the same time:
- Skipping, racing or pounding heart
- Sweating or clammy hands
- Trembling or shaking
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- A choking feeling or lump in your throat
- Chest pain, pressure or discomfort
- Nausea or stomach problems
- Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded or faint
- Feeling strange, unreal, detached or unfamiliar
- Fear that you are losing control or going crazy
- Fear that you are dying
- Feeling tingling or numbness
- Hot flushes or chills
| None | One | 2-5 | 6-10 | 11 or more | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Based on this description, about how many panic episodes have you experienced in the past month? | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ |
Note: Respondents who respond “None” to the first item skip all remaining items and score zero.
| Never | Occasionally | Often | All the time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the past month, how often have you been worried about having another panic episode? | □ | □ | □ | □ |
| In the past month, how often have you been worried about the consequences of having another panic episode? | □ | □ | □ | □ |
| In the past month, how often did you avoid places, situations or activities because you were afraid of having or triggering a panic episode? (For example, not going to public places alone, not leaving your house, avoiding physical exertion or avoiding stressful activities.) | □ | □ | □ | □ |
Scoring
The first item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale scored 0-4, while remaining items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale score 0-3. Severity scores are obtained by summing responses to all items, with scores ranging from 0-13.
The PADIS has been validated in a community-based sample of young Australians aged 18-30 (n = 12,336), with accuracy compared to diagnostic interview (social phobia caseness on the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) in a subsample of 1,674 with elevated anxiety symptoms.
Accuracy
Using a cut-off score of 4 or higher to indicate criteria for panic disorder, the PADIS had 77% sensitivity and 84% specificity, with higher sensitivity but lower specificity compared to the PHQ-Panic scale (57% sensitivity, 91% specificity). In an independent adult population-based sample, the PADIS had 84% sensitivity and 77% specificity compared to DSM-5 criteria, using the same criteria (PADIS>=4).
Norms & psychometric properties
Internal consistency: The PADIS had high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.86).
Factor structure: All five items loaded on single factor accounting for 78% of variance, with loadings of 0.73 or higher.
Population norms: The mean severity score within the population-based sample of young people was 1.66 (sd = 2.47). Scores were not significantly different by age or gender in this sample.
Key references
Batterham PJ, Mackinnon AJ, Christensen H. (2015). The Panic Disorder Screener (PADIS): Development of an accurate and brief population screening tool. Psychiatry Research, 228, 72-76.