The AD8: The Washington University Dementia Screening Test, also known as “Eight-item Interview to Differentiate Aging and Dementia” (AD8), is a short and simple to use instrument that an informant or older adult can complete. The AD8 contains 8 items that test for memory, orientation, judgment, and function.

The Alzheimer’s Questionnaire measures mild cognitive impairment which can be a precursor of Alzheimers’ disease. The questionnaire consists of 21 items scored and weighted by how well they predict problems with memory.

This caregiver burden scale was developed to assess perceived burden among caregivers of family members with dementia. It is a 22-item questionnaire to measure the subjective burden of caregivers in five domains (general strain, isolation, disappointment, emotional involvement, and environment). Respondents rate the frequency with which items apply to them on a 4-point scale, ranging from "not at all" to "often".

The Clinical Dementia Rating or CDR is a numeric scale used to quantify the severity of symptoms of dementia. Using a structured-interview protocol developed by Charles Hughes, Leonard Berg, John C. Morris and other colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine, this scale assesses a person’s cognitive and functional performance in six areas: memory, orientation, judgment and problem solving, community affairs, home & hobbies, and personal care.

The World Mental Health WMH-CIDI is a comprehensive, fully-structured interview designed to be used by trained lay interviewers for the assessment of mental disorders according to the definitions and criteria of ICD-10 and DSM-IV. It is intended for use in epidemiological and cross-cultural studies as well as for clinical and research purposes. The diagnostic section of the interview is based on the World Health Organization's Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO CIDI, 1990).

The WMH-CIDI allows the investigator to:
• Measure the prevalence of mental disorders
• Measure the severity of these disorders
• Determine the burden of these disorders
• Assess service use
• Assess the use of medications in treating these disorders
• Assess who is treated, who remains untreated, and what are the barriers to treatment

When choosing to become part of the WMH-CIDI community you are presented with a unique opportunity of administering the instrument in its PAPI (paper and pencil) form or in its computerized form [more commonly referred to as a Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI)].

The CSDD is a 19-item instrument specifically designed for the rating of symptoms of depression in demented patients. The severity of each item is rated according to three explicitly defined grades: absent, mild or intermittent, and severe.

Developed at Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, the DICA-R is a structured psychiatric interview for children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 17 years The DICA provides diagnoses according to DSM-III-R and is designed to provide mental health diagnoses for children and adolescents in large epidemiologic surveys. All three versions (child, adolescent and parent) have been translated to Arabic and used in research conducted by IDRAAC.

The Diagnostic Interview for Genetic Studies (DIGS) was developed by the National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) in the USA, for the specific field of genetic studies. DIGS is used to assess the phenotypes of most psychiatric disorders. A team of experts from IDRAAC (Lebanon) and Weill Cornell Medical College (Qatar) translated and adapted the DIGS 4.0 into Arabic as a first step towards an enhanced line of genetics research in the region. Special training is needed before using this instrument. For a sample of the Arabic DIGS please Click Here. For the full version of the Arabic DIGS please contact us at idraac@idraac.org.

The DIS is a structured interview developed at Washington University at St. Louis (USA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, USA). The DIS is designed to be used by lay interviewers in epidemiological studies. It provides diagnoses in mental health according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM, American Psychiatric Association). IDRAAC adapted the first version of DIS to Arabic in 1982, has trained people on its use and has used this instrument in several research projects.

A scale developed to assess the underlying assumptions and beliefs that constitute schemas by which individuals construe their life experiences. It has been reedited to reflect more recent factor analyses. All data are based on the original 100-item version.

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a 30-item self-report assessment used to identify depression in the elderly. The scale was first developed in 1982 by J.A. Yesavage and others.

A scale that allows the quantitative evaluation of anxiety. The configuration of item scores allows obtaining a psychic anxiety score, a physical anxiety score and a global score.

A scale developed to evaluate, in a simple and quantitative manner, the severity of a depressive state, and to show modifications under treatment. It is not an instrument for a diagnostic aim.

A scale that assesses the degree of severity of behavioral and attention problems through parents' reports. The scale compares children with peers of the same sex and age in a series of typical daily home situations. This scale is useful for treatment of ADHD, ODD or CD children.

A scale used to measure cognitive expectancy and degree of pessimism regarding the self, the world and the future, and it also allows evaluating suicidal risk. The H.S is composed of 20 true-false items.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a fourteen item scale which was originally developed by Zigmond and Snaith (1983) and is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a patient is experiencing.

Hypomania Checklist-32 (HCL) was developed by Angst et al., in 2005 to “identify hypomanic components in patients with major depressive disorder in order to help clinicians to diagnose Bipolar Disorder II and other Bipolar spectrum disorders”. The main 32 items- which requires a yes/no answer- specifically probe for behaviours, emotions and thoughts typically observed in hypomanic states (e.g. ‘I need less sleep’ or ‘I am less shy or inhibited’) and the questionnaire refers to ‘a period when [you] were in a “high” state’ (mania), in the last four months. The questionnaire also includes items about the duration of such ‘highs’, as well as the current and habitual mood.

An examiner-rated instrument that uses cognitive tasks to screen for and measure cognitive deficits associated with Dementia or other psychiatric and/or neurologic disorders associated with deficits in cognitive functions (spatio-temporal orientation, response to an oral or written command).

A scale of hetero-evaluation of 30 items. Parts of 1 to 7, of the pathologic symptoms observed in patients presenting psychotic conditions, in particular schizophrenia. It allows calculating 3 dimensional syndrome scores: positive, negative and of general psychopathology, all in a categorical and dimensional perspective.

A questionnaire that assesses the degree of severity of behavioral and attention problems through teachers' report. The scale compares children with peers of the same sex and age in a series of typical daily school situations. This scale is useful for behavioral management planning in the treatment of ADHD, ODD or CD children.
Social Adjustment Scale-revised, (by Du Paul and R. Barkley)
A scale addressed to children and adolescents that aims at evaluating their social adaptation and well being through a series of questions related to involvements in school, extracurricular activities, family life, friendships, dating, and others. This scale can be used as self-report or as a semi-structured interview

A scale that measures the personality dimensions, which are associated with depression. Each of the 60 questions asks the respondent to rate the percentage of the time that a statement applies to himself or herself. Three-dimensional Personality Scale (TPQ), (by R. Cloninger)
A questionnaire designed to assess temperament in both normal and abnormal populations, based on a general biosocial theory of personality. Temperament is assessed through 3 dimensions: novelty-seeking, harm-avoidance and reward dependence. The data obtained from the questionnaire can be analyzed to come up with dimensions of personality traits.

Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-autoquestionnaire version (TEMPS-A), is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure temperamental variations. Its constituent subscales and items were formulated on the basis of the diagnostic criteria for affective temperaments (cyclothymic, dysthymic, irritable, hyperthymic, and anxious), originally developed by Hagop Akiskal and his collaborators.

IDRAAC, has translated, adapted and validated the Lebanese-Arabic TEMPS-A, from the original English TEMPS-A.

For more information, please check our publication:
Karam EG, Mneimneh Z, Salamoun M, Akiskal K, Akiskal H. Psychometric properties of the Lebanese Arabic TEMPS-A: A national epidemiologic study. Journal of Affective Disorders (Aug) 2005, 87: 169-183.,

The WEQ covers a wide variety of war events. The list of specific war events included in the questionnaire represents events that occur frequently in war situations.
Part I inquires about the occurrence of specific war events like house damage, physical injury, kidnapping and business loss.
In Part II, events like displacement, water and electricity shortages, going to the shelter, etc.. that occur rather frequently and repeatedly for the same individual are inquired about. Since perception of war events is seen by many authors to be an important factor in the study of war stressors, the WEQ also assesses the subject’s perception of the war events they have been exposed to. To each war event inquired about in part I, the interviewee gives a score from 0 to 10, depending on how traumatic the event was perceived by that subject. Thus, every war event gets two numerical values, one pre-set and one given by the interviewee. To know more please refer to: Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 1999, Vol. 34(5): 265-274. EG. Karam, R. Al-Atrash, S. Saliba, N. Melhem, D. Howard.

The Disability Assessment Schedule provides a profile of functioning across six activity domains, as well as a general disability score. This information can be used to : identify needs, match patients to interventions, track functionary over time, measure clinical outcome and treatment effectiveness.
The WHO DAS-II is available in eleven versions and sixteen languages. Available versions include self administered, interviewer-administered, and proxy-reported.