Should excessive worry be required for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder?
Ruscio AM; Lane M; Roy-Byrne P; Stang PE; Stein DJ; Wittchen HU; Kessler RC Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. BACKGROUND: Excessive worry is required by DSM-IV, but not ICD-10, for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). No large-scale epidemiological study has ever examined the implications of this requirement for estimates of prevalence, severity, or correlates of GAD.METHOD:Data were analyzed from the US National Comorbidity Survey Replication, a nationally representative, face-to-face survey of adults in the USA household population that was fielded in 2001-2003. DSM-IV GAD was assessed with Version 3.0 of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Non-excessive worriers meeting all other DSM-IV criteria for GAD were compared with respondents who met full GAD criteria as well as with other survey respondents to consider the implications of removing the excessiveness requirement.RESULTS: The estimated lifetime prev
