Abstract
Assessment plays an essential role in diagnosis, treatment planning, and progress monitoring, but assessment data are often used in ways that are impressionistic and prone to biases. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles, underutilized in psychology, can be used to streamline the assessment process and increase the accuracy of conclusions. Using a case example to illustrate the application of each step, this paper outlines a 12-step approach for applying EBM assessment strategies in clinical practice. The initial steps utilize information about clinical base rates, psychopathology risk factors, rating scale scores, and selected in-depth assessment to conduct an iterative, efficient approach to estimating the probability of a given diagnosis until that probability falls into a range suggesting the diagnosis is unlikely to be present, or likely enough to warrant treatment. Once the practitioner and client agree on the treatment plan, subsequent steps monitor progress and outcomes and use that information to make decisions about termination, and then continued monitoring guards against relapse.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 20-35 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Cognitive and Behavioral Practice |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Clinical decision-making
- Diagnosis
- Evidence-based assessment
- Evidence-based medicine
- Sensitivity and specificity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
Cite this
Clinical guide to the evidence-based assessment approach to diagnosis and treatment. / Youngstrom, Eric A.; Choukas-Bradley, Sophia; Calhoun, Casey D.; Doss, Amanda.
In: Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2015, p. 20-35.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical guide to the evidence-based assessment approach to diagnosis and treatment
AU - Youngstrom, Eric A.
AU - Choukas-Bradley, Sophia
AU - Calhoun, Casey D.
AU - Doss, Amanda
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Assessment plays an essential role in diagnosis, treatment planning, and progress monitoring, but assessment data are often used in ways that are impressionistic and prone to biases. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles, underutilized in psychology, can be used to streamline the assessment process and increase the accuracy of conclusions. Using a case example to illustrate the application of each step, this paper outlines a 12-step approach for applying EBM assessment strategies in clinical practice. The initial steps utilize information about clinical base rates, psychopathology risk factors, rating scale scores, and selected in-depth assessment to conduct an iterative, efficient approach to estimating the probability of a given diagnosis until that probability falls into a range suggesting the diagnosis is unlikely to be present, or likely enough to warrant treatment. Once the practitioner and client agree on the treatment plan, subsequent steps monitor progress and outcomes and use that information to make decisions about termination, and then continued monitoring guards against relapse.
AB - Assessment plays an essential role in diagnosis, treatment planning, and progress monitoring, but assessment data are often used in ways that are impressionistic and prone to biases. Evidence-based medicine (EBM) principles, underutilized in psychology, can be used to streamline the assessment process and increase the accuracy of conclusions. Using a case example to illustrate the application of each step, this paper outlines a 12-step approach for applying EBM assessment strategies in clinical practice. The initial steps utilize information about clinical base rates, psychopathology risk factors, rating scale scores, and selected in-depth assessment to conduct an iterative, efficient approach to estimating the probability of a given diagnosis until that probability falls into a range suggesting the diagnosis is unlikely to be present, or likely enough to warrant treatment. Once the practitioner and client agree on the treatment plan, subsequent steps monitor progress and outcomes and use that information to make decisions about termination, and then continued monitoring guards against relapse.
KW - Clinical decision-making
KW - Diagnosis
KW - Evidence-based assessment
KW - Evidence-based medicine
KW - Sensitivity and specificity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84927647526&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84927647526&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cbpra.2013.12.005
DO - 10.1016/j.cbpra.2013.12.005
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84927647526
VL - 22
SP - 20
EP - 35
JO - Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
JF - Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
SN - 1077-7229
IS - 1
ER -