Wender Utah Rating Scale for the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Overview:

The Wender Utah Rating Scale can be used to assess adults for Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder with a subset of 25 questions associated with that diagnosis

Wender Utah Rating Scale

61 questions answered by the adult patient recalling his or her childhood behavior
5 possible responses scored from 0 to 4 points


As a child I was or had: not at all or very slightly mildly moder­ately quite a bit very much
1 active restless always on the go
2 afraid of things
3 concentration problems, easily distracted
4 anxious worrying
5 nervous fidgety
6 inattentive daydreaming
7 hot- or short-tempered low boiling point
8 shy sensitive
9 temper outbursts tantrums
10 trouble with stick-to-it-tiveness not following through. failing to finish things started
11 stubborn strong-willed
12 sad or blue depressed unhappy
13 incautious. dare-devilish involved in pranks
14 not getting a kick out of things dissatisfied with life
15 disobedient with parents rebellious sassy
16 low opinion of myself
17 irritable
18 outgoing friendly enjoyed company of people
19 sloppy disorganized
20 moody ups and downs
21 angry
22 friends popular
23 well-organized tidy neat
24 acting without thinking, impulsive
25 tendency to be immature
26 guilty feelings regretful
27 losing control of myself
28 tendency to be or act irrational
29 unpopular with other children, didn't keep friends for long, didn't get along with other children
30 poorly coordinated, did not participate in sports
31 afraid of losing control of self
32 well-coordinated picked first in games
33 tomboyish (for women only)
34 running away from home
35 getting into fights
36 teasing other children
37 leader bossy
38 difficulty getting awake
39 follower led around too much
40 trouble seeing things from someone else's point of view
41 trouble with authorities, trouble with school visits to principal's office
42 trouble with police, booked, convicted
Medical problems as a child: not at all or very slightly mildly moder­ately quite a bit very much
43 headaches
44 stomachaches
45 constipation
46 diarrhea
47 food allergies
48 other allergies
49 bedwetting
As a child in school I was (or had): not at all or very slightly mildly moder­ately quite a bit very much
50 overall a good student fast
51 overall a poor student slow learner
52 slow in learning to read
53 slow reader
54 trouble reversing letters
55 problems with spelling
56 trouble with mathematics or numbers
57 bad handwriting
58 able to read pretty well but never really enjoyed reading
59 not achieving up to potential
60 repeating grades
61 suspended or expelled

Score

Wender Utah rating scale subscore = (sum of 25 questions associated with ADHD)

Interpretation:

minimum score for the 25 questions is 0
maximum score 100
if a cutoff score of 46 was used 86 of patients with ADHD 99 of normal persons and 81% of depressed subjects were correctly classified

References:

Ward MF Wender PH Reimherr FW. The Wender Utah Rating Scale: An aid in the retrospective diagnosis of childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 1993; 150: 885-890.
Wender Utah Rating Scale for the Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Overview