DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semistructured interview developed to improve ADHD assessment in adults. This study is designed to assess the validity of the criterion used in DIVA 2.0 and its concomitant validity in comparison with Conners Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) 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.
Symptoms
The symptoms of ADD/ADHD affect every aspect of our lives from relationships to advancement in our careers and the daily tasks we perform. It is essential that our ADHD assessment takes a comprehensive view, examining how symptoms impact all aspects of life. During your assessment, Dr Schilling will start by gathering information about your symptoms and health background. She will then conduct the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to examine both the core symptoms of ADD/ADHD and how they have affected your life.
The DIVA is an interviewing tool designed by psychotherapists and psychiatrists to evaluate the symptoms of adult ADHD. It has been shown to have a high sensitivity to sound and a high degree of specificity. It is also highly effective in identifying individuals suffering from the disorder. It is able to raise awareness of, and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semi-structured diagnostic test for adults with ADHD available in the country.
To conduct the DIVA, a trained clinician usually psychologist or psychiatrist will ask questions about the main symptoms of ADHD such as inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The clinician will also delve into the person's past, looking at their childhood experiences and how they could influence their present behavior. The symptoms of ADHD are not sudden. They appear over a long period of time from childhood through teen years and adulthood.
The DIVA can be used to detect ADHD because it considers both the DSM-IV ADHD criteria in the early years and later in adulthood and how these symptoms have affected the person's daily functioning in five distinct areas - employment, education, family/partner relationships and leisure/social activities, as well as self-esteem/confidence. As a contrast other screening tools, like the WURS-brief which was compared to CAADID which showed poor accuracy and negative predictive values.
Diagnosis
To determine ADHD in adults, it is important that you evaluate the symptoms and their history. This can be accomplished through an extensive interview about childhood symptoms as well as a neurological assessment. It is also crucial to look at the effects of the symptoms on the person's work and life. This can be evaluated by conducting a structured interview, the DIVA and, in certain instances, asking for information from friends and family members.
The DIVA interview is a semistructured, structured interview that was originally designed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised to be used with adult patients in other countries including Korea. The study examined the criterion applicable to the Korean version (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample consisting of adults with ADHD.
During the DIVA the doctor will inquire about ADHD symptoms in the early years of life and into adulthood. They will also ask the age at which they first noticed symptoms and the extent of impairment caused by these symptoms. The clinician will also collect a variety of sociodemographic information and inquire about any psychiatric-related co-morbidity.
Patients were assessed for psychiatric co-morbidity 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). Two experienced psychiatrists employed the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 in order to establish a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. They evaluated symptoms both in adulthood and childhood, and determined the duration of symptoms.
The sensitivity and specificity of DIVA-5 was found to be high for both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in childhood and adulthood. The diagnostic tool was demonstrated to have good compatibility with the WURS scale, and fair concurrent validity with three self-report rating instruments: ASRS, FAB, 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 the DIVA-5's diagnosis was found to be comparable to the accuracy of clinical diagnoses made by two psychiatrists. This was in accordance with the specificity and sensitivity of previous screening tools like the ASRS and the WURS.
Treatment
Undiagnosed ADHD can have a major impact on your life. It can impact your relationships, academic progress, and work. adhd assessment can also affect the way you organize your daily life. A diagnosis can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, as well as offer treatment options that help you manage your symptoms and mechanisms.
A trained clinician (typically a psychiatrist or a psychologist) will have a structured conversation with you using the DIVA-5 tool to assess your current symptoms. This will include asking standard questions regarding your levels of inattention, hyperactivity and an impulsiveness. It will also look into your personal history and your childhood experiences to create a complete picture of your symptoms.
This approach is crucial to ensure a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. This helps us better understand your symptoms and inform your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to determine adult ADHD with high specificity and sensitivity. It has also been shown to be valid as a criterion when compared with self-report scales like the Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS) or the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concurrent validity with these scales, and good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
The DIVA evaluation, unlike the more conventional methods of assessing ADHD in adulthood, focuses on identifying symptoms that manifest in the teen years and in adulthood. This increases the accuracy of diagnoses and allows a more accurate comparison of the sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA assessment can also be used to assess the effect of coexisting disorders on symptoms 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. You can be referred to an expert psychologist for a thorough assessment of your symptoms and to determine if there are co-occurring or different diagnoses. This includes assessing any comorbid conditions, such as depression or anxiety. This will enable your Psychologist determine the best treatment plan.
Getting Started
Being diagnosed with ADHD can have a profound impact on your life and provide explanations for lingering difficulties and opening doors to effective treatment options. However, a reliable assessment requires the expertise of experienced medical experts. The DIVA ADHD assessment, a structured and extensive tool, helps to improve the adult ADHD diagnosis accuracy by evaluating symptoms at various stages of life. It also identifies persistent patterns of behavior, and distinguishes between ADHD symptoms and those of other conditions that can exhibit similar symptoms for adults, such as depression or anxiety.
In the DIVA ADHD assessment, a doctor conducts an interview to ask several questions regarding symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. The doctor evaluates the frequency, severity and duration of these symptoms in order to understand how they impact the individual's life and how they function in various environments. This information can be used to create an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA test is confirmed in comparison to other diagnostic tools. It has high sensitivity when compared to WURS-briefs, CAA-DIDs and psychiatrist's tests. It also has high accuracy when measuring ADHD symptoms in five areas of daily functioning: education and work as well as relationships, family and home social interactions; free time and hobbies.
For an accurate DIVA assessment, the individual being assessed and their family and friends must be present. This will help build trust and a therapeutic bond that is important for the success of the assessment.
A skilled psychiatrist or psychologist who is trained in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment can provide a comprehensive report. The report will detail the findings of the test and recommend a treatment program that is based on the evidence.
Please contact us to set up an appointment if you think you or someone you love may be suffering from ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling is trained in the DIVA ADHD assessment and can perform an evaluation. She can then provide a referral to a specialist to create an effective treatment strategy. Please be aware that the recommended treatment approach is a combination of medications and psychotherapy.