DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis
DIVA is an interview with a semistructured format that was developed to improve ADHD assessment 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
The symptoms of ADD/ADHD impact every area of life, from relationships and career progression to the everyday tasks that are part of our lives. It is crucial that our ADHD assessment takes a holistic approach, looking at how the symptoms impact every aspect of life. Dr Schilling will begin by evaluating your symptoms and medical history. She will then conduct the DIVA 5 assessment, a semi-structured interview designed to evaluate the primary symptoms of ADD/ADHD as well as how those symptoms have impacted your life.
The DIVA is an interview tool for diagnosing ADHD. It was developed by psychiatrists and psychologists to evaluate adult ADHD symptoms. It has been shown to have a high sensitivity to sound and specificity. It is extremely effective in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It can help raise awareness and help diagnose adult ADHD in Korea since it is the only validated semistructured diagnostic interview available in the country.
To perform the DIVA, a trained clinician usually psychologist or psychiatrist will inquire about the primary symptoms of ADHD which include inattention, hyperactivity, and an impulsive nature. The doctor will also dig into the individual's history and examine their childhood experiences and how those may have affected their current behaviours. This is because the signs of ADHD aren't something that just happens to appear in a flash, they manifest through the teenage years, and even into adulthood.
The DIVA is able to effectively identify those with ADHD, as it takes into account both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in childhood and adulthood and how these symptoms have impacted the person's daily functioning in five distinct areas of life: education work, family/partner relationships, family, social activities/leisure time, and self-esteem and self-confidence. As a contrast other screening tools, such as the WURS-brief, which was compared to the CAADID, showed poor sensitiveness and negative predictive value.
Diagnosis
To determine the presence of ADHD in adults it is important that you evaluate the signs and symptoms along with their background. This can be accomplished through conducting a thorough interview about childhood symptoms as well as an assessment of the neurocognitive. It is important to consider the impact these symptoms have on the person's work and daily life. This can be evaluated through a structured medical interview, called the DIVA, and in some instances, getting information from friends and family members.
The DIVA is a semi-structured interview that was initially designed for use with adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised to be used in other countries including Korea. This study looked at the validity of the Korean version of DIVA (DIVA-5) in a clinical sample of adult patients with ADHD.
During the DIVA the clinician will ask about ADHD symptoms during the early years and in adulthood. They will also ask the age of onset of symptoms and the extent of impairment triggered by these symptoms. The doctor also collects a diverse set of sociodemographic data and asks about any psychiatric or comorbidity.
Patients were assessed for psychiatric co-morbidity using the MINI-S plus version 5.0.0 and the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impairment Screening Instrument (BEARNI) and the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB). Two psychiatrists with experience utilized the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 to establish a diagnosis of ADHD. source for this article assessed symptoms throughout adulthood and childhood, and determined the duration of 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 was found to have good concurrent validity with the WURS scale, and fair concurrent validity with three self-report ratings instruments: the ASRS, FAB, 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 diagnostic accuracy of the DIVA-5 was found to be comparable to that of a clinical diagnosis formulated by two renowned psychiatrists. This was in line with the sensitivity and specificity of earlier screening tools, such as ASRS and WURS.
Treatment
If you're not aware of ADHD, it can significantly affect your life. This could be in a variety of areas, from relationships, academic and work progress to the simple tasks of organising daily living. A diagnosis can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, as well as provide treatment options to alleviate your symptoms and cope mechanisms.
A licensed clinician (typically psychiatrists or psychologist) will conduct an organized conversation with you using the DIVA-5 tool to assess your current symptoms. It will ask you standard questions about your levels hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. It will also look into your personal history, including childhood experiences to give you an accurate picture of your symptoms.
This method is crucial for a thorough adult ADHD diagnosis. This allows us to better understand your symptoms and inform your treatment.
The DIVA assessment can be used to identify adult ADHD with high specificity and sensitivity. It has also been proven to be reliable in determining the validity of criterion, when compared to self-report rating scales like the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) and the ADHD-Rating Scale. It has good concordance validity with these scales, and has good validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.
The DIVA evaluation, unlike traditional methods for assessing ADHD in adulthood, focuses on identifying symptoms that manifest in the teen years and in adulthood. This improves the accuracy of diagnoses and allows for a more accurate comparison of the sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups. The DIVA assessment also allows for consideration of the effects of co-existing disorders on the manifestation and severity of ADHD symptoms.
If your Psychologist is unable to prescribe medication, you may need to make an appointment with a Psychiatrist or a Paediatrician to discuss further evaluation and/or treatment. They can then refer you to an expert Psychologist for more in-depth evaluation of your symptoms and to determine if there are any co-occurring diagnoses or differential diagnoses. This includes assessing comorbid conditions, like depression or anxiety. This will help your Psychologist recommend an appropriate treatment plan.
Getting Started
Getting diagnosed with ADHD can have a profound impact on your life, offering explanations for long-standing issues and opening doors to effective treatment options. A thorough evaluation requires the expertise of trained healthcare professionals. The DIVA ADHD assessment is a structured and comprehensive tool that can help to improve the accuracy of an adult ADHD diagnosis by assessing symptoms across various life stages. It also detects patterns of behavior that persist of behavior and distinguishes between ADHD symptoms and other conditions that can exhibit similar symptoms for adults, such as anxiety or depression.
In the DIVA ADHD assessment, a doctor conducts an interview to ask several questions regarding symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and an impulsiveness. The clinician assesses the severity, frequency and duration of these symptoms in order to understand how they impact the individual's life and functioning in several settings. This information can be used to create an accurate diagnosis.
The DIVA test is confirmed in comparison to other diagnostic tools. It shows high sensitivity when compared to WURS-briefs, CAA-DIDs and psychiatrist's assessments. It also has a high degree of validity for conducting an assessment of ADHD in five areas of daily function: work and education, relationships, home and family, social contacts, and leisure time and hobbies.
A well-validated DIVA assessment requires the participation of the individual being assessed as well as their closest family members and their friends. This helps to establish trust and strengthen the therapeutic bond that will be essential for the success of the assessment.
A skilled psychologist or psychiatrist who is certified in the use of the DIVA ADHD assessment will be able to provide a comprehensive report. The report will detail the results of the assessment and suggest a treatment plan that is based on evidence.
Contact us to make an appointment if you or someone you love might be suffering from ADHD. Our doctor Kate Schilling has been trained in the use of DIVA ADHD assessments and can provide a thorough evaluation. She can then provide a referral to a specialist to create an effective treatment strategy. Be aware that the treatment plan recommended is a combination of medication and psychotherapy.