The Hamilton Anxiety Scale: reliability, validity and sensitivity to change in anxiety and depressive disorders

The Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) was tested for reliability and validity in two different samples, one sample (n=97) defined by anxiety disorders, the other sample (n=101) defined by depressive disorders. The reliability and the concurrent validity of the HAM-A and its subscales proved to be sufficient. Internal validity tested by latent structure analysis was insufficient. The major problems with the HAM-A are that (1) anxiolytic and antidepressant effects cannot be clearly distinguished; (2) the subscale of somatic anxiety is strongly related to somatic side effects. The applicability of the HAM-A in anxiolytic treatment studies is therefore limited. More specific anxiety scales are needed.