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Hamilton Anxiety Scale

Hamilton Anxiety Scale

What is HAM-A

The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) is rating scale for the symptoms of anxiety neurosis. It has been prepared as an aid to the quantification of symptoms. The HAM-A is intended for use with patients already diagnosed as suffering from neurotic anxiety states, not for assessing anxiety in patients suffering from other disorders. Anxiety in greater or lesser degree is found in agitated depression and obsessional states particularly, and also in such states as organic dementia, hysteria and schizophrenia, but it must be clearly emphasized that the scale is not intended to cope with these conditions.

HAM-A Printable PDF

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HAM-A Scoring and Interpretation

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Further, PsyPack automatically plots a graph to help you easily track progress over time.

Domain

Anxiety

What does HAM-A measure

The purpose of the evaluation is to:

  • quantify symptoms of anxiety neurosis.

Administration

Clinician-administered

Type of outcome tool

Clinical

Assessment modes

Questionnaire

Age and eligibility

Adults, adolescents and children

Estimated time

10 to 15 minutes

Notes

Clinician's administration may influence the subject by how they explain the question. Interpretation of the subjects response may also be hindered by the clinician even when methods are present to prevent interviewer biases.

The major problems with the HAM-A are that (1) anxiolytic and antidepressant effects cannot be clearly distinguished; (2) the subscale of somatic anxiety is strongly related to somatic side effects. The applicability of the HAM-A in anxiolytic treatment studies is therefore limited. More specific anxiety scales are needed.

Attribution and References

M Hamilton. The Assessment of Anxiety States by Rating. 32 Br J Med Psychol 50-55. 1959.

M Hamilton. The Assessment of Anxiety States by Rating. 32 Br J Med Psychol 50-55. 1959.
Archived link
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.
Archived link