About the GAD-7 Anxiety Test
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) is a short questionnaire used worldwide to screen for anxiety and measure how severe it is. Each question asks how often, over the last two weeks, you have been bothered by a core anxiety symptom, scored from 0 ("not at all") to 3 ("nearly every day"). This calculator totals your answers (0–21) and applies the severity bands published by Spitzer and colleagues in 2006.
Use it if a clinician has asked you to complete a GAD-7, if you want to track anxiety over weeks of therapy or self-help, or to decide whether symptoms are worth discussing with a doctor. The GAD-2 subscore — the first two questions — is shown as well because it is often used as a quick first-stage screen. The scale was developed in adult primary care patients in the United States.
Although it was designed for generalized anxiety disorder, the GAD-7 also picks up panic disorder, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress reasonably well. A high score is a reason for a proper assessment, not a diagnosis in itself.
With the default inputs, the gad-7 total score is 0 / 21. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the gad-7 anxiety test
- 1Think about the last two weeks only.
- 2For each of the seven problems, choose how often it has bothered you.
- 3Answer the question about how much the problems affect daily life.
- 4Read your total score and severity band.
- 5If the score is 10 or more, or anxiety is affecting your life, talk to a clinician.
Formula and method
Each item is scored 0 for "not at all", 1 for "several days", 2 for "more than half the days" and 3 for "nearly every day" over the previous two weeks, and the seven scores are added. Spitzer and colleagues defined 5, 10 and 15 as the thresholds for mild, moderate and severe anxiety, and identified 10 or more as the cut-off that best balanced sensitivity (89%) and specificity (82%) for generalized anxiety disorder.
The question about how difficult the problems make daily life is reported separately and is not added to the total.
- item n
- Answer to question n: 0 not at all, 1 several days, 2 more than half the days, 3 nearly every day
- GAD-2
- Sum of the first two items (nervousness and uncontrolled worry)
Worked examples
Moderate anxiety
The answers sum to 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 11, in the moderate band (10–14) and above the screening cut-off of 10. The GAD-2 subscore is 4, also a positive brief screen.
Mild, occasional worry
Five symptoms on "several days" give a total of 5 — the bottom of the mild band. The GAD-2 subscore of 2 is below the threshold of 3.
Severe anxiety
Adding 3 + 3 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 3 gives 18, in the severe band of 15–21, with the maximum GAD-2 of 6 and extreme difficulty functioning.
Frequently asked questions
What is a normal GAD-7 score?+
Scores of 0–4 indicate minimal anxiety. Totals of 5–9 are mild, 10–14 moderate and 15–21 severe, using the bands from the original 2006 validation in US primary care.
What GAD-7 score means I might have an anxiety disorder?+
A total of 10 or more is the usual cut-off for further evaluation; it identified generalized anxiety disorder with 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity. A clinician needs to confirm any diagnosis.
Does the GAD-7 only detect generalized anxiety disorder?+
It was built for generalized anxiety disorder, but later studies found it also detects panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and PTSD reasonably well, though with lower accuracy.
How is the GAD-7 different from the PHQ-9?+
The GAD-7 measures anxiety symptoms, while the PHQ-9 measures depression. The two often overlap, so many clinics give both questionnaires together.
Is the GAD-7 free to use?+
Yes. Like the PHQ-9, the GAD-7 was developed with a Pfizer educational grant and may be reproduced, translated and used without permission.
For healthcare professionals and education only. This calculator implements a published formula or score but is not a diagnosis and does not replace clinical judgment. Verify inputs and results against the original source before using them in patient care.