Psychometrics of the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) in a sample of women with and without trauma histories

Arch Womens Ment Health. 2013 Apr;16(2):123-9. doi: 10.1007/s00737-012-0325-8. Epub 2013 Jan 9.

Abstract

Many women have unidentified anxiety or trauma histories that can impact their health and medical treatment-seeking behavior. This study examined the sensitivity, specificity, efficiency, and sensitivity to change of the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) for identifying an anxiety disorder in a female sample with and without trauma history related to intimate partner violence (IPV). Forty-three women with full or partial PTSD from IPV and 41 women without PTSD completed the OASIS. All participants with trauma history completed the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale. This report is a secondary analysis of a study on the neurobiology of psychological trauma in survivors of IPV recruited from the community. A cut-score of 5 best discriminated those with PTSD from those without, successfully classifying 91% of the sample with 93% sensitivity and 90% specificity. The measure showed strong sensitivity to change in a subsample of 20 participants who completed PTSD treatment and strong convergent and divergent validity in the full sample. This study suggests that the OASIS can identify the presence of an anxiety disorder among a female sample of IPV survivors when PTSD is present.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anxiety / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Anxiety Disorders / psychology
  • California / epidemiology
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Crime Victims / psychology*
  • Crime Victims / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interpersonal Relations
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Psychometrics / statistics & numerical data*
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sexual Partners
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Spouse Abuse / psychology*
  • Spouse Abuse / statistics & numerical data
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / epidemiology
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult