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MIRECC Global Assessment of Functioning Scale
The scale |
Publications
Summary
The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale was introduced as a measure of global severity of illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders version III-R first published in 1987. Despite its widespread use, the GAF has serious limitations. One major limitation of the GAF is that it combines three domains of functioning (i.e., occupational, social, and psychological) which often do not vary together. Research has found that GAF scores are typically representative of symptom status rather than social or occupational status.
In the early 1990's, Greer Sullivan, MD and colleagues developed a prototype of a modified GAF in which the three dimensions were rated separately and anchor points for each dimension were specifically defined (unpublished report). Building upon this earlier prototype, we developed the "MIRECC GAF", in which occupational, social and psychological functioning are rated separately.
We recently used data from the Enhancing Quality-of-Care in Psychosis (EQUIP) to study the reliability and predictive validity of the MIRECC GAF. Overall, the three MIRECC GAF scales can be scored reliably and have good concurrent and predictive validity.
The Scale
MIRECC
Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF)Scale (pdf)
There is a pressing need for routine measures of patient clinical status and functioning. These can be used clinically to track individual patient progress, and used in populations of patients to improve the quality of care they receive.
Publications
Niv N, Cohen AN, Sullivan G, Young AS: The MIRECC Version of the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale: Reliability and Validity.
Psychiatric Services 2007; 58: 529-35.
Any opinions expressed are only those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the VA.
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