Wender Utah Rating Scale

The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is a psychological assessment tool used to help diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (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.

Versions

The WURS exists in two main versions:

Translations

The WURS-61 and the condensed WURS-25 have been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, Bulgarian, Swedish, Chinese, Turkish, and Persian.

In 2002, a modified German short form of the WURS, WURS‑K (Kurzversion; also WURS‑G) was released. This 21-item scale shares 17 items with the WURS-25.

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 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.

For the German short form (WURS-K), a cutoff score of 30 or higher is typically used to indicate a childhood history of ADHD symptoms, demonstrating a retest reliability of 90%. While the WURS-K and WURS-25 are highly correlated, research indicates that their cutoff scores are not directly interchangeable due to the WURS-K containing fewer items and focusing more on antisocial behavior compared to the mood and self-esteem factors found in the WURS-25.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ward MF, Wender PH, Reimherr FW (June 1993). "The Wender Utah Rating Scale: an aid in the retrospective diagnosis of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 150 (6): 885–90. doi:10.1176/ajp.150.6.885. PMID 8494063.
  2. 1 2 3 Gift TE, Reimherr ML, Marchant BK, Steans TA, Reimherr FW (March 2021). "Wender Utah Rating Scale: Psychometrics, clinical utility and implications regarding the elements of ADHD". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 135: 181–188. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.01.013. PMID 33493947.
  3. 1 2 Das, Dibash (28 April 2020). "Study Supports Using WURS and ASRS Jointly to Assess Adult ADHD". Psychiatry Advisor. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 Brevik EJ, Lundervold AJ, Haavik J, Posserud MB (June 2020). "Validity and accuracy of the Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) symptom checklists in discriminating between adults with and without ADHD". Brain and Behavior. 10 (6) e01605. doi:10.1002/brb3.1605. PMC 7303368. PMID 32285644.
  5. 1 2 3 Caci H, Didier C, Wynchank D (October 2023). "Retrospective diagnosis of childhood ADHD using the Wender Utah Rating Scale". L'Encephale. 49 (5): 481–488. doi:10.1016/j.encep.2022.05.009. PMID 35987714.
  6. 1 2 3 Caci HM, Bouchez J, Baylé FJ (2010). "An aid for diagnosing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder at adulthood: psychometric properties of the French versions of two Wender Utah Rating Scales (WURS-25 and WURS-K)". Comprehensive Psychiatry. 51 (3): 325–31. doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2009.05.006. PMID 20399344.
  7. 1 2 Retz-Junginger P, Retz W, Blocher D, Weijers HG, Trott GE, Wender PH, Rösler M (September 2002). "Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-K) Die deutsche Kurzform zur retrospektiven Erfassung des hyperkinetischen Syndroms bei Erwachsenen" [Wender Utah rating scale. The short-version for the assessment of the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults]. Der Nervenarzt (in German). 73 (9): 830–838. doi:10.1007/s00115-001-1215-x. PMID 12215873.