DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is a semi-structured, structured interview that has been developed to enhance ADHD assessments for adults. This study will evaluate the validity of the criterion used in DIVA 2.0 and its validity in conjunction 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.
Signs and symptoms
ADD/ADHD symptoms impact all aspects of our lives from relationships to advancement in our careers and the daily tasks we perform. This is why it's important that our ADHD assessments take a holistic approach by examining how symptoms affect all aspects of life. During your assessment, Dr Schilling will start by gathering details about your symptoms as well as health background. She will then conduct the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to examine the main symptoms of ADD/ADHD as well as how they have affected your life.
The DIVA is an instrument for diagnostic interviews created by psychologists and psychiatrists to determine adult ADHD symptoms. It has been proven to have high sensitivity and specificity. It is highly effective at identifying those suffering from the disorder. It is able to raise awareness and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic interview available in the country.
To perform the DIVA A trained professional usually a psychiatrist or psychologist - will inquire about the primary symptoms of ADHD which include hyperactivity, inattention, and an impulsive nature. The clinician will also delve into the background of the individual by looking at their early experiences and how they could have influenced their behavior. The symptoms of ADHD are not sudden. They develop over a period of time, from childhood to teen years and then into adulthood.
The DIVA is able to effectively identify people suffering from ADHD, as it takes into consideration both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in adulthood and childhood, and how those symptoms have affected the person's daily functioning in five distinct areas of life - education and work, family/partnership relations and leisure time/social activities, and self-esteem and self-confidence. Contrary to this other screening tools, such as the WURS-brief, which was compared to the CAADID, showed poor sensitiveness and negative predictive value.
Diagnosis
In order to determine the presence of ADHD in adults, it is important to determine the severity of the symptoms and their causes. This can be done with an extensive interview about childhood symptoms and a neurological assessment. It is essential to take into consideration the impact that these symptoms have on the person's job and daily life. This can be determined by conducting a structured interview, called the DIVA, and in some instances, getting information from friends and family members.
The DIVA is an interview with a semi-structured format that was initially designed for use with adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised to be used with adult patients in other countries, including Korea. This study looked at the criteria applicable to the Korean version (DIVA-5) in an actual clinical sample of patients with ADHD.
During the DIVA, the clinician asks about the presence of ADHD symptoms during childhood and adulthood, as well as the age at which symptoms onset, and the severity of impairment resulting from those symptoms. The doctor will also collect a variety of sociodemographic information and inquire about any psychiatric co-morbidity.
MINI-S and Version 5.0.0 and the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impaired Screening Instrument (BEARNI) and the Frontal Assessment Battery were used to detect psychiatric co-morbidity. A diagnosis of clinical ADHD was determined by two psychiatrists with experience who utilized the DIVA-5 structured diagnostic interview to evaluate symptoms in both the early years and in childhood, and determine the duration of those symptoms.
The sensitivity and specificity of DIVA-5 was found to be high for both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms in childhood and adulthood. This diagnostic tool has good concurrent validity when compared to the WURS scale, and fair validity when compared to three self-report ratings instruments: the ASRS (self-report rating), FAB (self-report rating) 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 diagnostics was found to be comparable to that of a clinical diagnoses that were made by two psychiatrists. This was in accordance with the sensitivity as well as specificity of earlier screening tools, such as ASRS and WURS.
Treatment
If you're not aware of ADHD it could significantly impact your life. This can affect your relationships, academic progress as well as your work. It can also affect how you organize your daily life. A diagnosis can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses and also offer treatment options to improve your symptoms and coping mechanism.
A trained clinician (typically psychiatrists or psychologist) will have an organized conversation with you, using the DIVA-5 tool to assess your current symptoms. It will include standardised questions regarding your levels of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. It will also delve into your personal history, including childhood experiences, in order to gain a complete understanding of your symptoms and their impacts on your life.
linked website is essential for ensuring a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. This allows us to better know your symptoms and help you with your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to determine adult ADHD with high specificity and sensitivity. It has also shown to be a good criterion-validated test when compared with self-report scales like the Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS) or the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concordance validity with these scales and fair validity with Sheehan’s Dysfunction Inventory.
Unlike the more traditional methods for assessing ADHD in adults, the DIVA assessment is focused on identifying and discussing symptoms that are present in both the teen years and into adulthood, increasing the accuracy of diagnosis and allowing for an accurate comparison between sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA evaluation also gives an opportunity to look at the effects of co-occurring disorders on the presentation of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is unable to prescribe medication, you might need to schedule an appointment with a psychiatrist or a Paediatrician to discuss further evaluation and/or treatment. They can then refer you to a specialist Psychologist for further in-depth analysis of your symptoms and to look for co-occurring diagnoses or differential diagnoses. This includes assessing for co-occurring disorders like anxiety and depression. This will enable your Psychologist recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
A diagnosis of ADHD can change your life. It can provide answers to persistent issues and opens the door to effective treatment options. However, a thorough evaluation requires the expertise of experienced healthcare experts. The DIVA ADHD assessment, a well-structured and comprehensive tool, helps to improve the adult ADHD diagnosis accuracy by analyzing symptoms at different life stages. It also identifies persistent patterns of behavior, and distinguishes between ADHD symptoms and other conditions that may present similar symptoms in adults, such as depression or anxiety.
In an DIVA ADHD assessment, a clinician uses a structured interview to ask an array of questions about symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The clinician assesses the severity, frequency and duration of these symptoms to understand how they impact on the person's life and performance in a variety of situations. This information can then be used to develop an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA assessment has been validated against other diagnostic tools and exhibits high sensitivity when compared with the WURS-brief and CAA-DID as well as a psychiatrist's assessment. It has also excellent validity for assessing ADHD in five areas of daily function: work and education, relationships with family and home, social contacts, and leisure time and hobbies.
To be able to conduct an accurate DIVA assessment, the person being assessed and their family members and friends must be present. This will help to build trust and create a therapeutic bond which is essential to the success of the evaluation.
A skilled psychiatrist or psychologist who is certified in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment will be able to provide a comprehensive report. This report will outline the findings of the test and recommend a treatment program based on the evidence.
Contact us to make an appointment if you or someone you love might be suffering from ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling is trained in the DIVA ADHD assessment and can perform an assessment. She can then provide an appointment with a specialist to create an effective treatment plan. Please be aware that the recommended treatment approach is a combination of medications and psychotherapy.