DIVA ADHD - Improving Adult ADHD Diagnosis

DIVA is an interview that is semistructured designed to improve ADHD assessment in adults. This study is designed to assess the validity of the criterion used in DIVA 2.0 and its concurrent validity in comparison 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.

Symptoms

The symptoms of ADD/ADHD can affect every area of life including relationships and career progression to the daily activities that comprise our lives. This is why it's important that our ADHD assessments adopt a holistic approach, looking at how symptoms affect all aspects of life. During your assessment, Dr Schilling will start by gathering details about your symptoms as well as health background. She will then conduct an DIVA 5 assessment. This is a semi-structured interview that evaluates both the core symptoms and the impact of ADD/ADHD your life.

The DIVA is a diagnostic interview tool created by psychologists and psychiatrists to determine adult ADHD symptoms. It has been found to be extremely sensitive and precise. It is also highly efficient in identifying people suffering from the disorder. It has the potential to increase awareness and diagnose adult ADHD in Korea because it is the only validated semi-structured, semi-structured diagnostic interview for adults suffering from ADHD available in the country.

A qualified clinician, typically psychiatrists will inquire about the primary symptoms of ADHD. These include inattention, hyperactivity and an impulsive nature. The psychologist will also examine the background of the person as well as their childhood experiences as well as their influence on their behavior. This is because the signs of ADHD don't just emerge in a flash, they manifest throughout the teen years, and even into adulthood.

The DIVA can effectively identify those with ADHD, as it takes into account both the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD in adulthood and childhood, and how those symptoms have affected an individual's daily functioning in five distinct areas of life: education work, family/partner relationships, family and leisure time/social activities, and self-esteem and confidence in oneself. In comparison, other screening tools like the WURS-brief which was compared to the CAADID, showed poor sensitivity and negative predictive values.

Diagnosis

In order to diagnose ADHD in adults, it is essential to assess the symptoms and their causes. This can be done with a comprehensive interview on childhood symptoms and a neurological assessment. It is important to consider the impact that the symptoms can have on a person's work and life. This can be assessed by conducting a structured interview the DIVA and, in some instances, obtaining information from family and friends.

The DIVA interview is a semistructured interview originally developed for adults in the Netherlands. It has been revised to be used with adult patients in other countries including Korea. This study looked at the criteria valid of the Korean version (DIVA-5), in a clinical sample consisting of patients with ADHD.

During the DIVA the doctor asks about the presence of ADHD symptoms in childhood and adulthood, as well as the age at which the symptoms first manifest, as well as the extent of impairment caused by those symptoms. The clinician also collects variety of sociodemographic information and asks about any psychosis-related or comorbidity.

MINI-S as well as Version 5.0.0, the Brief Alcohol Related Neuropsychological Impaired Screening Instrument (BEARNI) as well as the Frontal Assessment Battery were used to determine if a psychiatric co-morbidity existed. adhd assessments experienced psychiatrists used the structured diagnostic interview DIVA-5 to establish a clinical diagnosis of ADHD. They evaluated 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 has good concurrent validity when compared to the WURS scale, and has fair validity when compared to three self-report ratings instruments: the ASRS (self-report rating), FAB (self-report rating), 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 the accuracy of a clinical diagnosis made by two experienced psychiatrists. This was in line with the sensitivity and specificity of earlier screening tools, such as ASRS and WURS.

Treatment

If you have an undiagnosed ADHD it could significantly affect your life. It can impact your relationships, academic performance and work. It can also affect the way you organize your day-to-day life. A diagnosis can help identify your strengths and weaknesses and offer treatment options to improve your symptoms and cope mechanisms.

A qualified clinician, typically psychologist or psychiatrist will conduct an in-depth interview with you about your current symptoms using the DIVA-5 assessment tool. This will involve standardised questions about your levels of hyperactivity, inattention and the tendency to be impulsive. It will also look into your personal history, including your childhood experiences, in order to gain a complete understanding of your symptoms and the impact they have on your life.

This method is essential to ensure a thorough diagnosis of adult ADHD. It also allows us to identify the root cause of your symptoms, which will help inform your treatment.

The DIVA assessment is a highly efficient method of diagnosing adults with ADHD and has high sensitivity and specificity. It has also been proven to be valid as a criterion when compared with 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 reasonable validity with Sheehan's Dysfunction Inventory.

In contrast to the more conventional methods for assessing ADHD in adults, the DIVA evaluation is focused on identifying and discussing the symptoms that are present in both childhood and adulthood, thereby increasing the accuracy of diagnosis and allowing for a more accurate comparison between sociodemographic traits of the two groups. The DIVA evaluation also provides an opportunity to consider the effect of co-occurring disorders on manifestation of ADHD symptoms.

If your Psychologist is not able to recommend treatment, it might be necessary to make an appointment with a Paediatrician or Psychiatrist for a further assessment and/or therapy. They can refer you to a specialist Psychologist for further in-depth evaluation of your symptoms, and to look for co-occurring diagnoses and differentials. This includes assessing for co-occurring disorders like depression and anxiety. This will allow your Psychologist to determine the best treatment plan.

Getting Started

Being diagnosed with ADHD can have a profound impact on your life, offering explanations for long-standing issues and opening doors to effective treatment options. However, a thorough evaluation requires the expertise of qualified medical experts. The DIVA ADHD assessment, a structured and extensive tool, helps to improve the adult ADHD diagnosis accuracy by evaluating symptoms at various stages of life. It also detects patterns of behavior that persist of behavior and distinguishes between ADHD symptoms and those of other conditions that may present similar symptoms in adults, like anxiety or depression.

In a DIVA ADHD assessment, a doctor conducts an interview to ask a series of questions about symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and an impulsiveness. The doctor evaluates the intensity, frequency and duration of symptoms to determine how they affect the person in various situations. This information can be used to create an accurate diagnosis.

The DIVA assessment has been validated in comparison to other diagnostic tools. It has a high sensitivity when compared to WURS-briefs, CAA-DIDs and psychiatrist's assessments. It also has excellent reliability when conducting an assessment of ADHD in five areas of daily functioning such as education and work, relationships with family and home, social contacts, and free time and hobby.

A well-validated DIVA assessment requires the participation of the person being assessed as well as their closest family members and friends. This will help to build trust and strengthen the therapeutic bond which is essential for the success of the evaluation.

A psychologist or psychiatrist who has experience in the DIVA ADHD assessment can provide an in-depth, professional report. The report will detail the results of the assessment and recommend a treatment plan that is based on the evidence.


If you think you or someone you love might be suffering from ADHD, please contact us for an appointment. Our doctor Kate Schilling is trained in the DIVA ADHD assessment and can perform an evaluation. She will then make an appointment with specialists to design an effective treatment plan. Be aware that the recommended treatment method is a combination of medications and psychotherapy.