It was clear from that review that the best measure for anxiety and depression - the one preferred by clinical staff and patients - was HADS.Professor Bob Lewin, clinical psychologist at the Department of Health Sciences, University of York and the Director of the British Heart Foundation Rehabilitation Research Unit
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a valid and reliable self-rating scale that measures anxiety and depression in both hospital and community settings. HADS gives clinically meaningful results as a psychological screening tool and can assess the symptom severity and caseness of anxiety disorders and depression in patients with illness and the general population. HADS is now only available in a paper format. The digital version is no longer available.
Fully standardised, HADS can detect the presence and severity of mild degrees of mood disorder, anxiety and depression using one brief questionnaire.