DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semi-structured interview that has been developed to enhance ADHD assessments in adults. This study will evaluate the validity of the criterion used to determine DIVA 2.0 as well as its validity in conjunction 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 all aspects of life, from relationships and career progression to the everyday tasks that make up our lives. That's why it is so important that our ADHD assessments take a holistic approach, looking at how symptoms affect all aspects of our lives. Dr Schilling will begin by assessing your symptoms and medical history. She will then take the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to evaluate the primary symptoms of ADD/ADHD and the impact these symptoms have had on your life.
The DIVA is an interview tool designed by psychotherapists and psychiatrists to assess symptoms of adult ADHD. It has been demonstrated to be extremely sensitive and specific. It is also extremely effective in identifying individuals suffering from the disorder. It has the potential to increase awareness of, and diagnosis of the condition of adult ADHD in Korea since it is the only validated semi-structured diagnostic interview for adults with ADHD available in the country.
A trained and experienced clinician, typically psychiatrists, will inquire about the primary symptoms of ADHD. These include hyperactivity, inattention and an impulsive nature. The clinician will also delve into the person's past by looking at their early experiences and how they could influence their present behavior. The symptoms of ADHD don't appear in a flash. They appear over a long period of time from childhood to teenage years and into adulthood.
The DIVA can identify ADHD because it considers both the DSM-IV ADHD criteria in the early years and later in adulthood and how these signs have affected the individual's daily functioning across five areas - employment, education and family/partner relationships social activities/leisure, as well as confidence in oneself. In comparison other screening tools, such as the WURS-brief which was compared to CAADID which showed poor accuracy and negative predictive values.
Diagnosis
To diagnose ADHD in adults it is crucial to assess the symptoms and their background. assess adhd can be accomplished through an extensive interview about childhood symptoms as well as an assessment of the neurological. It is also important to assess the effects of the symptoms the individual's life and work. This can be determined conducting a structured interview the DIVA and, in some instances, obtaining information from relatives and friends.
The DIVA interview is a semistructured interview originally developed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been refined to be used in other countries including Korea. This study examined the criterion that is valid for the Korean version (DIVA-5), in a clinical sample consisting of adults suffering from ADHD.
During the DIVA the doctor asks about the presence of ADHD symptoms in childhood and adulthood, the time at which the symptoms begin to manifest, and the extent of impairment resulting from those symptoms. The clinician also collects wide range of sociodemographic data and asks about any psychosis-related co-morbidity.
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 diagnosis of clinical ADHD was established by two psychiatrists with experience who used the DIVA-5, a structured diagnostic interview, to assess symptoms in both adulthood and childhood and 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 to three self-report ratings instruments that include 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 diagnosis of the DIVA-5 was found to be similar to that of a clinical diagnosis made by two experienced psychiatrists. This was in agreement with the specificity and sensitivity of earlier screening tools such as the ASRS and the WURS.
Treatment
If you're not aware of ADHD it could significantly affect your life. This could be in a variety of aspects, from relationships to academic and work progress to the simple task of organising daily living. A diagnosis can help you identify your strengths and difficulties, as well as provide treatment options that improve your symptoms and coping mechanisms.
A qualified psychologist (typically a psychiatrist or a psychologist) will conduct a structured discussion with you, using the DIVA-5 instrument to assess your current symptoms. This will involve asking standardised questions about your levels hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. It will also look into your personal history and childhood experiences to give you the full picture of your symptoms.
This approach is essential to a thorough adult ADHD diagnosis. This allows us to better comprehend your symptoms and guide your treatment.
The DIVA assessment is an extremely effective way of diagnosing adult ADHD and has high sensitivity and precision. It has also been proven to be a good criterion-validated test when compared to self-report scales, such as the Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS) or the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concordance validity with these scales, and has good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
In contrast to the more conventional methods of assessing ADHD in adults, the DIVA assessment focuses on identifying and discussing the symptoms that can be observed in childhood and in adulthood, thus increasing the accuracy of diagnosis and enabling an easier comparison of sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA assessment also permits consideration of the effect of coexisting disorders on manifestation and severity of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist cannot prescribe medication, you might need to make an appointment with a Psychiatrist or a paediatrician for a more thorough assessment and/or treatment. You may be referred to an expert psychologist for a more in-depth assessment of your symptoms and to determine if there are any co-occurring or different diagnoses. This includes assessing comorbid disorders, such as depression or anxiety. This will enable your Psychologist suggest a suitable treatment plan.
Getting Started
A diagnosis of ADHD can transform your life. It can provide answers to long-standing problems and opens the door to effective treatment options. However, a reliable assessment requires the expertise of qualified medical professionals. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a well-organized and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of an adult ADHD diagnosis by evaluating symptoms across different life stages. It also helps identify patterns of behavior that remain and aids in distinguishing between ADHD symptoms and other disorders, such as depression or anxiety.
In the course of a DIVA ADHD evaluation, a clinician will use a structured interview in order to ask a series of questions about symptoms such as hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity. The doctor evaluates the severity, frequency and duration of these symptoms to understand how they impact the individual's life and how they function in a variety of environments. This information can be used to determine an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA assessment has been validated against other diagnostic tools and has shown high sensitivity in comparison to the WURS-brief, CAA-DID and an assessment by a psychiatrist. It also has a high degree of validity when assessing ADHD in five areas of daily function that include education and work relationships with family and home social interactions, leisure time and hobbies.
For a valid DIVA assessment, the person being evaluated, their family and friends must be present. This helps to establish trust and a therapeutic bond that will be crucial for the success of the assessment.
A psychiatrist or psychologist with expertise in the DIVA ADHD assessment can write a detailed, professional report. This report will outline the findings of the test and suggest a treatment plan based on the evidence.
Please contact us to set up an appointment if you think you or someone you know might have ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling is trained in the DIVA ADHD assessment and is able to provide an evaluation. She will refer you to a specialist who will develop an appropriate treatment strategy. Be aware that a combination of psychotherapy and medication is the best treatment.