Geriatric Anxiety Scale

What is the Geriatric Anxiety Scale?

Growing older brings about a multitude of experiences. Nostalgia becomes more prevalent as we yearn for simpler days gone by. Satisfaction and regret intermingle with the wisdom gained over the years, yet unfortunately, we also experience a certain vulnerability. Our bodies become more fragile, or at least, for most of us, they do.

With age comes an understandable increase in anxiety. Depending on one's life circumstances, concerns may arise about losing control, whether over oneself or the things that were once within our grasp. Realizing physical limitations sets in, as we can no longer perform tasks with the same agility as before. Common geriatric pains and illnesses become a part of everyday life, as does apprehension about financial security, the well-being of loved ones, and even mortality itself.

For geriatricians and mental healthcare professionals who regularly work with elderly patients, the Geriatric Anxiety Scale is a valuable tool for assessing anxiety symptoms and their severity. This scale comprises a comprehensive thirty-item questionnaire that patients can fill out independently. Healthcare professionals can better understand their patients’ anxiety levels by reflecting on the patient’s experiences with anxiety and symptoms from the past week, including the day of completing the scale.

If you're concerned that your patient may be displaying depression symptoms, feel free to access this resource:

How to use the Geriatric Anxiety Scale:

There are two ways to use the Geriatric Anxiety Scale. You can hand it to the geriatric patient for them to answer independently. But, if your patient has difficulty writing due to age-related problems or diseases that affect their hands, you can conduct the scale like an interview.

If you opt for this method, you simply need to instruct them to answer using the scale’s preset choices and then dictate each item one by one so they can answer. This method will take more time, but the upside to conducting it like an interview is that you might get more out of it aside from a total score. You can ask them to expound on their answers, allowing you to determine what should go into their treatment plan down the line.

Either way, your patient will answer items including the following:

• My heart raced or beat strongly.
• I felt like things were not real or like I was outside of myself.
• I felt like I was losing control. 
• I was afraid of being judged by others.
• I had difficulty staying asleep.
• I had difficulty concentrating.
• I worried too much.
• I could not control my worry.

The patient simply needs to pick one of the following answer choices per number:

• Not at all = 0 points
• Sometimes = 1 point
• Most of the time = 2 points
• All of the time = 3 points

The total score will be the sum of Items 1 to 25. There are also subscale scores to calculate:

• Somatic = Items 1-3, 8, 9, 17, 21-23
• Cognitive = Items 4-5, 12, 16, 18-19, 24-25
• Affective = Items 6, 7, 10-11, 13-15, 20

There are no score ranges and designations for this scale, but note that the higher the score is, the higher the level of their anxiety.

The calculation of Items 1 to 25 is exclusive to scenarios with thirty items. The remaining five items serve as a reference for healthcare professionals. These items highlight areas of concern that should be taken into account when formulating a treatment plan for their patients.

Geriatric Anxiety Scale Example

Now that you know what the Geriatric Anxiety Scale is, how it can be administered, what types of items it has that need to be answered, how to answer it, and how to score it, it’s time for you to see what it looks like. Our template for the Geriatric Anxiety Scale simply takes the original. We just added radio buttons for patients to tick with a pen or a device (if you use the PDF file) and fields for indicating the total scores for the whole scale and its subscales. There’s also an additional comments box for healthcare professionals to write about their patients (e.g., endorsing them for a comprehensive examination, listing down what to consider when making a treatment plan, etc.), especially if they expound on their answers.

If you like what you see and believe this is a good way to gauge the anxiety symptoms and severity of your geriatric patients, then feel free to download our free Geriatric Anxiety Scale PDF template.

Download this Geriatric Anxiety Scale Example:

When is it best to use the Geriatric Anxiety Scale?

The optimal timing for utilizing the Geriatric Anxiety Scale can vary among professionals. Suppose you are a geriatrician and have established a strong rapport and trust with your patient. In that case, you may consider administering this scale if you observe anxiety symptoms or if your patient confides in you about their anxiety. By assessing the severity of their anxiety, you can then refer them to a mental healthcare specialist who specializes in therapy and counseling for elderly patients.

For therapists or counselors employing the scale, it is crucial to establish a comfortable and non-judgmental environment where patients feel safe discussing the factors contributing to their anxiety. Many individuals feel uneasy discussing mental health concerns, particularly with someone they have recently met. Therefore, creating an inviting atmosphere and communicating your willingness to assist them is advisable. Once they begin opening up, inform them about the importance of assessing the severity of their anxiety symptoms and introduce the Geriatric Anxiety Scale. Only proceed with evaluating them using the scale if they explicitly express their consent.

What are the benefits of using the Geriatric Anxiety Scale?

The Geriatric Anxiety Scale is inexpensive and easy to use.

The Geriatric Anxiety Scale is a user-friendly clinical tool. It consists of a questionnaire with simple instructions: individuals are required to choose one out of four possible answers for each item, with each answer corresponding to a specific score. The questions should be easy for patients to answer. Any challenges that arise are likely to be related to age-related hand dexterity issues or their comfort level in responding. Remember, the purpose of the scale is to assess their level of anxiety. It may be beneficial to provide them with the necessary time and space to answer if needed.

The scale can help professionals develop a treatment plan.

Although the last five questions of the Geriatric Anxiety Scale are not scored, they play a crucial role in benefiting healthcare professionals who administer the scale to geriatric patients. These additional questions provide valuable insights, allowing professionals to identify areas of concern that should be considered when developing a personalized treatment plan. Even the scored items contribute to this process, particularly if professionals are able to encourage patients to elaborate on their answers. By leveraging these insights, healthcare professionals can enhance the quality of care provided to geriatric patients.

It can be used to monitor patients every now and then.

Once you have formulated and implemented a treatment plan, it is natural to be curious about your patient's progress, particularly after a certain period of time has elapsed. To assess their improvement, consider scheduling a routine checkup and re-administering the Geriatric Anxiety Scale. If the total score is lower than the initial assessment, it can be concluded that the treatment plan has been effective. However, if the score does not reflect improvement, it may be necessary to make adjustments to the plan.

How can Carepatron help with work that involves geriatric patients?

If you’re a geriatrician or a healthcare professional who often treats geriatric patients, then we hope this guide was a good introduction (or refresher!) to the Geriatric Anxiety Scale, and we hope the template tied to it serves you well when gauging your patients’ anxiety symptoms.

While we have you here, we’d like to request that you take the time to explore more of the Carepatron platform if you haven’t! We believe we have numerous features that you’ll find to be beneficial to your work.

We’d like to highlight one of them right now: our resource library! This feature is one of the things that we’re most proud of. This library houses a massive collection of clinical resources that cover numerous healthcare fields, practices, and topics! Since you’re working with geriatric patients, we have a good number of assessments that you might want to use. We have Geriatric Depression Scales and physical assessments that you can use to assess their risk of falling and gauge their mobility issues and capability to perform activities of daily living. The great thing about these resources is that they are all free! We don’t believe in gatekeeping resources, and we want healthcare to be accessible to all. This is one way for us to bring that to reality, so download as much as you want and need! If these help improve the quality of your work and cover more ground when examining patients, then we’re happy!