ABSTRACT
Clinicians are increasingly asked to offer evidence-based practices and to
demonstrate the efficiency and efficacy of their chosen treatment regimens,
necessitating the use of specific measures and rating scales. Rating scales are
also useful for many clinical purposes, such as determining specific client
profiles, deficits, symptoms, needs, and skills. Evaluations in the field of
psychiatry are often complex because of the various aspects needing to be
considered such as patients’ characteristics, behaviors, cognitive deficits,
motivations, symptoms, and physical issues. Furthermore, the individual’s
mental, physical, and emotional states need to be taken into consideration
prior to conducting an assessment, since these might alter the results. For
example, it is relevant to evaluate cognitive deficits in order to judge whether
the patient can reliably answer a self-report questionnaire or whether it is
better to obtain the information through other means (e.g. interview).
