(Jamma) A study conducted by a group of Canadian researchers used the SDS scale and an initial interview to evaluate gambling behavior by analyzing, specifically, 3 aspects: how much pathological gambling had disrupted work or the study, how much it had upset social life and how much family life in the month preceding the interview. The participants, 169 subjects with an average age of 42 and 42% female, answered the questionnaire using a scale from 1 to 10.
The Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) is a scale originally designed to assess the functional impairment associated with an anxiety disorder diagnosis. This tool makes it possible to measure the impact of symptoms on the work, social and family spheres. Because of its simplicity and brevity, the SDS is used extensively to support clinical studies on a variety of mental and general health disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, panic attacks, social anxiety, schizophrenia, and more recently, pathological gambling.
The analysis showed that the SDS scale proved to be a valid tool in the evaluation of the behaviors and the severity of the pathology, and in the evaluation of the results of the treatment against pathological gambling. Despite its brevity, it has shown good reliability, good evidence of validity, and sensitivity to patient changes.
Nonetheless, according to the researchers, it would be important for future research to focus on further examining the validity of individual items of the SDS scale for greater reliability.
