The danish version of patient reported outcomes measurement information system depression and anxiety short-forms (PROMIS-D-SF 6a and PROMIS-A-SF 6a) are promising tools to screen for anxiety and depression

Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Depression Short-Form 6a (PROMIS-D-SF) and Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Anxiety Short-Form 6a (PROMIS-A-SF) are brief self-administered questionnaires designed to assess anxious and depressive symptoms in healthy and clinical populations. Their usefulness as screening tool to identify patients and their validity has yet to be examined, which the present paper aims to do. Patients in the Mental Health Service Outpatient Clinics and healthy volunteers were invited to complete a survey that included the Danish translation of the PROMIS-D-SF, the PROMIS-A-SF, the Beck Depression Inventory, second edition (BDI-II), and the Beck Anxiety Index (BAI). We conducted a confirmatory factor analysis of the instruments’ previously proposed single-factor structures. We furthermore evaluated the construct validity of the PROMIS-D-SF and the PROMIS-A-SF by means of their relationship with the BDI-II and the BAI, respectively. Finally, we evaluated the utility of the PROMIS-D-SF and PROMIS-A-SF in identifying patient status by conducting receiver operating characteristic curves. Seventy healthy volunteers and 62 patients completed the instruments. Both the PROMIS-D-SF and the PROMIS-A-SF had a poor fit to a single-factor structure. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald’s omega showed good internal reliability for both instruments. PROMIS-D-SF score was positively correlated with the BDI-II (r=.89), and the PROMIS-A-SF score was positively correlated with the BAI (r=.90). ROC-analyses for both scales demonstrated good accuracy in detection of patient status. The level of self-reported anxious and depressive symptoms is high in patients with psychiatric illness compared to healthy volunteers. Patients with borderline personality disorder had the most elevated depressive symptoms. Our data suggest the PROMIS-D-SF and PROMIS-A-SF are not unidimensional measures, but that both instruments have good accuracy in detection of patient status. Examination of psychometric properties in patient populations with somatic disorders could be a natural next step. Not applicble.