Panic Disorder Severity Scale

What it measures

A brief measure of panic disorder severity covering panic attack frequency, distress during attacks, anticipatory anxiety, agoraphobic avoidance, work impairment, and social impairment. The self-report version (PDSS-SR) is widely used as a primary outcome measure in panic disorder RCTs.

Response format

Likert (0–4 per item); total 0–28

Representative items

• How many panic attacks have you had in the past week? (0=none to 4=8 or more)
• If you have had any panic attacks this past week, how distressing (uncomfortable, frightening) were they?
• How much have you worried or felt anxious about when your next panic attack would occur?
• Were there any places or situations you avoided, or felt afraid of, because of fear of having a panic attack?
• How much did your panic attacks, worry about attacks, or avoidance of situations interfere with your work or school?

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Katherine Shear. Total score >=8 suggests clinically significant panic disorder severity. Separate scores for panic frequency, anticipatory anxiety, and avoidance are informative for treatment monitoring. Primary outcome in most panic disorder CBT and pharmacotherapy trials.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Shear, M.K., Brown, T.A., Barlow, D.H., Money, R., Sholomskas, D.E., Woods, S.W., Gorman, J.M., & Papp, L.A. (1997). Multicenter collaborative panic disorder severity scale. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154(11), 1571–1575.

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