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Introduction

The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) is a 14-item clinician-rated instrument used to organize ratings of psychological and physical anxiety symptoms.

The ratings require clinical interviewing, observation, judgment, and an appropriate assessment context. The worksheet can record a clinician-led assessment, but a person should not treat unaided online answers as an equivalent self-test or diagnosis.

The total score is educational and must be interpreted with the interview, current health information, functional impact, and professional judgment.

Instructions

Use this worksheet only to record ratings made by a qualified clinician after an interview and clinical observation. For each of the 14 items, the clinician selects a severity rating from 0 to 4 for the relevant assessment period. Do not complete it as an unaided self-test.

This is not a standard self-report test

Clinician-rated; not a self-report screening test

Question 1 / 140 answered
Anxious MoodWorries, anticipation of the worst, fearful anticipation, irritability.

Scoring and result metrics

The result page reports a local screening score for this questionnaire. Use the score range, any subscale scores, and the interpretation band together rather than treating one number as a diagnosis.

Score range
0-56
Items scored
14
Result indicators
Total score / Interpretation band when available

Score interpretation bands

  • 0-17Mild anxiety

    Scores in the 0-17 range may be indicative of mild anxiety levels.

  • 18-30Moderate anxiety

    Scores in the 18-30 range may indicate moderate to severe anxiety levels.

  • 31-56Very severe anxiety

    Scores in the 31-56 range are indicative of very severe anxiety levels..

Interpretation bands summarize screening thresholds from the questionnaire source material. Higher scores usually indicate more of the measured concern unless the tool notes a different scoring rule.

Tool information

Version
HAM-A clinician-rated worksheet
Administration
Clinician-rated; not a self-report screening test
Intended audience
Trained clinicians recording anxiety severity after a clinical interview and observation; not intended for unaided self-rating

Sources

  1. M Hamilton. The Assessment of Anxiety States by Rating. 32 Br J Med Psychol 50-55. 1959.
  2. W Maier, R Buller, M Philipp, & I Heuser. The Hamilton Anxiety Scale: Reliability, Validity and Sensitivity to Change in Anxiety and Depressive Disorders. 14(1) J Affect Disord 61-68. 1988.

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