Healthcare & Clinical
GAD-7 Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (0–21) & Cutoff (>=10) Formula
Calculate Spitzer & Kroenke's 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder score (GAD-7, 0 to 21 points) and stratify anxiety severity at the validated 5-, 10-, and 15-point cutoffs.
Screen GAD, panic, social anxiety, and PTSD with 5 / 10 / 15 clinical thresholds!
Robert Spitzer, Kurt Kroenke, Janet Williams, and Bernd Löwe (Arch Intern Med 2006) developed the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7) using the exact same 2-week 0–3 frequency anchor as the PHQ-9 (0 = Not at all, 1 = Several days, 2 = More than half the days, 3 = Nearly every day) across seven core anxiety symptoms: (1) Feeling nervous/anxious/on edge, (2) Not being able to stop or control worrying, (3) Worrying too much about different things, (4) Trouble relaxing, (5) Being so restless it is hard to sit still, (6) Becoming easily annoyed or irritable, and (7) Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen!
Across 2,740 primary-care patients, GAD-7 cutoffs of 5, 10, and 15 cleanly demarcate Minimal (0–4), Mild (5–9), Moderate (10–14), and Severe (15–21) anxiety—with GAD-7 >= 10 achieving 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (and strong secondary screening performance for panic disorder, social phobia, and PTSD)!
| Total GAD-7 Score (0–21) | Anxiety Severity Tier | Clinical Screening Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 4 points | Minimal Anxiety | Below clinical threshold; no active intervention needed |
| 5 – 9 points | Mild Anxiety | Monitor symptom trajectory & lifestyle stressors |
| 10 – 14 points (>= 10 Screen+!) | Moderate Anxiety | Positive screen (89% sens / 82% spec) — diagnostic eval |
| 15 – 21 points | Severe Anxiety | Active CBT and/or SSRI/SNRI treatment warranted |
Total 7-Item GAD-7 Anxiety Score (0 to 21 Points)
Validates every item lies between 0 and 3, then sums B2:B8.
=IF(OR(MIN(B2:B8) < 0, MAX(B2:B8) > 3), "Invalid GAD-7 Item (0 to 3)", SUM(B2:B8))GAD-7 Clinical Severity Band & >= 10 Diagnostic Cutoff
Stratifies total GAD-7 at the validated 5, 10, and 15 cutpoints.
=IF(OR(MIN(B2:B8) < 0, MAX(B2:B8) > 3), "Invalid GAD-7 Item (0 to 3)", IF(SUM(B2:B8) <= 4, "Minimal Anxiety (0-4)", IF(SUM(B2:B8) <= 9, "Mild Anxiety (5-9)", IF(SUM(B2:B8) <= 14, "Moderate Anxiety (10-14: Positive Screen)", "Severe Anxiety (15-21: Active Treatment)"))))Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.