22nd February 2024

Investigation

For young patients with physical symptoms such as tachycardia, shortness of breath, weight change or cognitive impairment in addition to psychological symptoms, an organic cause should be ruled out first, e.g., hyperthyroidism. This can include routine blood tests, thyroid function tests, urinalysis, and an ECG. Other mood or anxiety disorders should also be ruled out. 

Patients over the age of 35 years presenting with somatic symptoms and who have had no previous history of GAD should be investigated for a physical cause first. GAD should be considered if they have key symptoms of GAD and there is no physical cause for the somatic symptoms. 

The GAD-7  is a 7-item questionnaire; each question is rated out of 3, with scores ranging from 0-21. This scale is used to measure the severity of anxiety and to monitor response to treatment and is not used as a diagnostic tool. Scores range from 0-4 is minimal, 5-9 is mild, 10-15 is moderate and >15 indicates severe anxiety.