[Reliability and validity of the Wender-Utah-Rating-Scale short form. Retrospective assessment of symptoms for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder]

Abstract

The diagnosis of adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) requires the retrospective assessment of ADHD symptoms in childhood. The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is helpful in detecting ADHD-associated symptomatology in childhood. A German short version (WURS-k) of this instrument has been made available recently. In the present study, we investigated the validity of the WURS-k. In a population of 63 adult ADHD patients (according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV criteria) and 1,303 male controls, ROC analysis indicated a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 76% at a cutoff of 30 points. In ADHD patients, seven individual factors explained 70.3% of the variance. The highest diagnostic precision was demonstrated using the WURS-k total score. The seven extracted factors of the WURS-k did not differ in diagnostic value. Significant correlations were found between impulsivity according to Eysenck's Impulsivity Questionnaire (EIQ) and excitability, aggression, emotional lability, and satisfaction on the Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI-R) in ADHD patients. Concerning a 30-50% persistence of ADHD symptomatology in adults, these correlations underline the diagnostic validity of the WURS-k. The scale manifested excellent internal consistency (alpha=0.91) and a split-half correlation of r(12)=0.85.