Anxiety patient reported outcome tool (GAD-7) use in complementary medicine teaching clinics throughout Australia
- Publisher:
- Elsevier BV
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Advances in Integrative Medicine, 2021, 8, (1), pp. 20-26
- Issue Date:
- 2021-03-01
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| 1-s2.0-S2212958819305890-main.pdf | 311.5 kB |
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Objective: To assess how the introduction of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) was utilised in consultations by students in complementary medicine undergraduate teaching clinic throughout Australia. This study also aims to evaluate the reported severity of anxiety in patients attending the clinic, the practitioner type consulted, and the treatment prescribed by the Complementary Medicine (CM) students for patients with anxiety during 2017-18. Design: This is a longitudinal, observational study using data from the Endeavour Wellnation clinics across Australia. Methods: Patients anxiety levels were measured with the GAD-7 at consultations with student practitioners during 2017–2018. Patients that completed the GAD-7 more than once had their subsequent GAD-7 scores compared to assess changes in outcome score. Information was taken from SurveyGizmo for patients who visited the student clinic making it a sub-group analysis. Results: Three hundred and ninety (n = 390) GAD-7 surveys were completed from the 50, 896 consultations that occurred in 2017 and 2018 (0.7 % of consultations). Most patients (29.7 %, n = 116) reported moderate anxiety on several days. Thirty-nine patients (n = 39) completed the GAD-7 more than once. Nutrition patients were the most frequent to complete the GAD-7 more than once. Conclusions: The introduction of the GAD-7 at Australian complementary medicine teaching clinics reported usage frequency of 0.7 % of consultations in the first two years. The reason for this usage frequency may be due to low encouragement of the use of Patient Reported Outcome Measurements (PROMs) by clinic supervisors and in pre-clinic subjects, students having low confidence in the use of the GAD-7 or other PROMs or lack of understanding of their benefits by either the student practitioner or the client. The lack of subsequent GAD-7 use in follow-up consultations may be contributing to a decreased substantiation of treatment outcomes for both the patient and the students. Consideration of more frequent use of the GAD-7 in regular clinical practice to enhance clinical outcomes and practitioner education is warranted.
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