The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is a psychological assessment tool used to help diagnose
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple con ...
(ADHD) in adults. It is a self-report questionnaire that asks individuals to retrospectively recall and rate the frequency and severity of symptoms they experienced during childhood that are characteristic of ADHD.
The assessment was released in 1993 after being developed by
Paul H. Wender and his colleagues at the
University of Utah School of Medicine
The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah.
History
The school bega ...
.
Versions
The WURS exists in two main versions:
* WURS-61: The original 61-item version, which covers a wider range of symptoms and potential confounding factors.
* WURS-25: A shorter 25-item version designed for increased efficiency and ease of administration.
Scoring
The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) scores the same set of 25 questions in both the abbreviated version (WURS-25) and the extended version (WURS-61), which includes an additional 36 unscored questions. Respondents rate each question on a five-point
Likert scale
A Likert scale ( ,) is a psychometric scale named after its inventor, American social psychologist Rensis Likert, which is commonly used in research questionnaires. It is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey research, s ...
ranging from 0 points ("not at all or very slightly") to 4 points ("very much"). The cumulative score spans from 0 to 100. A cutoff score of 36 or higher was able to accurately identify 96% of adults with ADHD and 96% of adults without ADHD. When the cutoff score was raised to 46 or higher, the assessment was able to accurately identify 86% of adults with ADHD and 99% of adults without ADHD.
See also
*
Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry
Diagnosis (: diagnoses) is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in a lot of different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". ...
References
{{Psychology
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Mental disorders screening and assessment tools