DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semi-structured interview that has been developed to improve ADHD assessments for adults. This study aims at evaluating the validity of the criterion used to determine DIVA 2.0 as well as its concomitant validity with Conners Adult ADHD Diagnosis Interview for DSM-IV 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.
Signs and symptoms
The symptoms of ADD/ADHD impact every aspect of our lives including relationships and career advancement to the day-to-day tasks that make up our lives. This is why it's crucial that our ADHD assessments adopt a holistic approach and look at how the symptoms impact all areas of life. During your evaluation, Dr. Schilling will begin by collecting information about your symptoms and health history. She will then take the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to evaluate both the core symptoms of ADD/ADHD and how those symptoms have impacted your life.
The DIVA is an instrument for diagnostic interviews developed by psychiatrists and psychologists to assess adult ADHD symptoms. It has been proven to have a high sensitivity to sound and a high degree of specificity. It is also extremely efficient in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It is able to raise awareness and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic test available in the country.
A trained clinician, usually a psychiatrist, will ask questions to determine the most prominent symptoms of ADHD. These include hyperactivity, inattention, and an impulsive nature. The clinician will also delve into the background of the individual and examine their childhood experiences and how they could have influenced their behavior. This is because the symptoms of ADHD aren't something that just happens to appear suddenly, they develop through the teenage years, and through adulthood.
The DIVA can effectively identify those with ADHD, as it takes into consideration both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in adulthood and childhood and how these symptoms have affected the person's daily functioning in five different areas of life: education, work, family/partner relations social activities/leisure time and self-esteem and confidence in oneself. Other screening tools, such as the WURS brief that was compared to the CAADID revealed low sensitivity and negative predictive value.
Diagnosis
In order to diagnose ADHD in adults, it is crucial to determine the severity of the signs and symptoms as well as their history. This can be accomplished through a comprehensive interview about childhood symptoms and an assessment of the neurocognitive. It is also essential to consider the effects of the symptoms the person's work and life. This can be assessed by conducting a structured interview, the DIVA and, in some cases, getting information from family members and friends.
The DIVA is an interview with a semi-structured format that was initially designed for use with adults in the Netherlands. It has been re-edited to be used in other countries including Korea. This study examined the validity of the criterion used to determine the Korean version of DIVA (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD.
During the DIVA the clinician will ask about ADHD symptoms in the early years of life and into adulthood. They will also inquire about the age at which they first noticed symptoms and the level of impairment caused by these symptoms. The clinician also collects variety of sociodemographic information and asks about any psychosis-related comorbidity.
Patients were screened for psychiatric comorbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0 and the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI), and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). A clinical diagnosis of ADHD was made by two experienced psychiatrists who used the DIVA-5, a structured diagnostic interview, to assess symptoms in both childhood and adulthood, and to 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 to the WURS scale, and has 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 diagnosing ADHD with the DIVA-5 was found to be comparable with that of a clinical diagnosis made by two experienced psychiatrists. This was in line both with the sensitivity as well as specificity of earlier screening tools, such ASRS and WURS.
Treatment
Undiagnosed ADHD can have a major impact on your daily life. It can impact your relationships, academic performance as well as your work. It can also impact the way you organize your daily life. A diagnosis can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as provide treatment options to improve your symptoms and coping mechanism.
A trained clinician, usually psychologist or psychiatrist will conduct an in-depth interview with you regarding your current symptoms using the DIVA-5 assessment tool. It will ask you standard questions about your levels of hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. It will also dig into your personal history including childhood experiences to get a complete picture of your symptoms.
This method is essential to ensure a complete diagnosis of adult ADHD. It also allows us to determine the root of your symptoms, which can help guide your treatment.
The DIVA assessment is an extremely efficient method of diagnosing adults with ADHD with high sensitivity and specificity. It has also shown to be valid as a criterion when compared with self-report scales such as Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS) or the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good consistency with these scales and good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
Contrary to the more conventional methods for assessing ADHD in adults, the DIVA evaluation focuses on identifying and discussing the symptoms that are present in both childhood and in adulthood, thus increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis and allowing a more accurate comparison between sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA assessment also permits consideration of the impact of co-existing disorders on the manifestation and severity of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is not able to prescribe treatment, it might be necessary to schedule an appointment with a Pediatrician or Psychiatrist to further assess and/or therapy. They will then refer you to a specialist Psychologist for further in-depth evaluation of your symptoms and to assess for co-occurring diagnoses and differentials. This includes assessing for co-occurring conditions like depression and anxiety. This will enable your Psychologist to suggest an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
Being diagnosed with ADHD can be life-changing, offering explanations for long-standing issues and opening doors to effective treatment options. A thorough evaluation requires the expertise of qualified healthcare providers. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a structured and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of adult ADHD diagnosis by assessing symptoms across various life stages. It also detects patterns of behavior that remain and assists in determining the difference between ADHD symptoms and other conditions like depression or anxiety.
In a DIVA ADHD assessment, a clinician conducts a structured interview to ask several questions regarding symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and the tendency to be impulsive. The doctor evaluates the severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect an person in various settings. This information can be used to make an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA assessment has been verified against other diagnostic tools and shows high sensitivity in comparison to the WURS-brief, CAA-DID and the assessment of a psychiatrist. It also has a high degree of reliability when it comes to measuring ADHD symptoms in five areas of daily functioning: work and education as well as relationships with family and home social interactions; leisure time and hobbies.
A valid DIVA assessment requires the participation of the person being evaluated as well as their close family members and friends. adhd diagnostic assessment london will help build trust and create a strong therapeutic bond, which is crucial to the success of your assessment.
A qualified psychiatrist or psychologist who is trained in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment can provide a comprehensive report. This report will present the results of the assessment and provide a treatment strategy that is based on the evidence.
Please contact us to schedule an appointment if you or someone you know might be suffering from ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained in the use of DIVA ADHD assessments and can provide a thorough evaluation. She can then provide a referral to specialists to design an effective treatment strategy. Please be aware that the recommended treatment approach is a combination of medications and psychotherapy.