This Wender Utah ADHD rating scale calculator assesses the existence of relevant attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms and helps with diagnosis. Discover more about the complete WURS assessment and a pdf version available to download below the form.
How does this Wender Utah ADHD rating scale calculator work?
The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is used in assessing adult patients for signs of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The whole scale comprises of 61 questions and it features items regarding childhood behavior and feelings.
The self report task ask the patient to remember the way they reacted to and how they felt in different situations as scientists consider there is a strong link between child symptoms and what the adult is currently experiencing.
This Wender Utah ADHD rating scale calculator is designed to clearly assess ADHD criteria through the 25 item version of the rating scale and asks the patient to recall childhood memories and experiences.
Each of the questions in the retrospective self report have 4 answer choices, with points from 0 to 4 which at the end of the assessment are summed to determine the overall score:
■ Not at all or slightly (0 points)
■ Mildly (1 point)
■ Moderately (2 points)
■ Quite a bit (3 points)
■ Very much (4 points)
The type of ADHD assessment performed through the Wender Utah scale focuses on revealing early onset symptoms and in understanding the mechanisms of adult attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder. In time, the model has shown good psychometric properties in various populations and demographics.
All the 61 items are described in the table below and there is also a pdf version that clinicians and patients can use, maybe even print and make notes on during the evaluation.
| 1 Active restless always on the go | 32 Well-coordinated picked first in games |
| 2 Afraid of things | 33 Tomboyish (for women only) |
| 3 Easily distracted with concentration problems | 34 Running away from home |
| 4 Anxious worrying | 35 Getting into fights |
| 5 Nervous fidgety | 36 Teasing other children |
| 6 Inattentive daydreaming | 37 Leader bossy |
| 7 Hot- or short-tempered | 38 Difficulty getting awake |
| 8 Shy sensitive | 39 Follower led around too much |
| 9 Temper outbursts tantrums | 40 Trouble seeing things from someone else's point of view |
| 10 Trouble with stick-to-it-tiveness not finishing things | 41 Trouble with authorities |
| 11 Stubborn strong-willed | 42 Trouble with police |
| 12 Sad or blue depressed | 43 Headaches |
| 13 Incautious. dare-devilish | 44 Stomachaches |
| 14 Dissatisfied with life | 45 Constipation |
| 15 Disobedient with parents | 46 Diarrhea |
| 16 Low opinion of myself | 47 Food allergies |
| 17 Irritable | 48 Other allergies |
| 18 Outgoing, friendly | 49 Bedwetting |
| 19 Sloppy disorganized | 50 Overall a good student fast learner |
| 20 Moody ups and downs | 51 Overall a poor student slow learner |
| 21 Angry | 52 Slow in learning to read |
| 22 Friends popular | 53 Slow reader |
| 23 Well-organized tidy neat | 54 Trouble reversing letters |
| 24 Impulsive, acting without thinking | 55 Problems with spelling |
| 25 Tendency to be immature | 56 Trouble with mathematics or numbers |
| 26 Guilty feelings regretful | 57 Bad handwriting |
| 27 Losing control of myself | 58 Able to read pretty well but not really enjoying it |
| 28 Tendency to be or act irrational | 59 Not achieving up to potential |
| 29 Unpopular, not very friendly | 60 Repeating grades |
| 30 Poorly coordinated | 61 Suspended or expelled |
| 31 Afraid of losing control of self | |
The cut off score is considered to be at 46 points for the 25 question version as in the original study with 86% of patients with ADHD, 99% of normal persons and 81% of depressed subjects were diagnosed properly using this cut off value.
Adult ADHD is either a condition with an early onset, with 60% of children with ADHD continuing to display significant symptoms during adulthood but also a condition that can appear at various stages in adults. In both cases, there is a strong genetic determinism (the mental health condition most likely to be inherited) as this is a neurobiological disorder.
In adults suffering from attention deficit disorders, there are also met other symptoms pertaining to other mental health conditions such as increased anxiety, depression or substance abuse.
The WURS model is based on DSM criteria of attention deficit diagnosis and the full version divides the symptoms in seven classes as follows:
■ Attention difficulties;
■ Hyperactivity/restlessness;
■ Temper;
■ Affective liability;
■ Emotional over-reactivity;
■ Disorganization;
■ Impulsivity.
Although the manifestations of the mental disorder are not as obvious in adults as in children, there are many distinctive behaviors that should raise alarm signals. The most common dysfunctional patterns in adults that are considered as main attention deficit symptoms include:
■ Task (anticipatory) avoidance (from simple procrastination to resorting to different scenarios and manipulation).
■ Impatience, irritability and inabilities to concentrate (a perpetual feeling of being ready to snap).
■ Pseudo efficiency (eliminating tasks, delegating unnecessarily or diminishing activities to create a sense of false productivity).
■ Juggling activities and mixing professional with personal life, not reacting properly to interpersonal problems and susceptibility to substance abuse.
References
1) Ward MF, Wender PH, Reimherr FW. (1993) The Wender Utah Rating Scale: an aid in the retrospective diagnosis of childhood attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Psychiatry; 150(6):885-90.
2) Stein MA, Sandoval R, Szumowski E, Roizen N, Reinecke MA, Blondis TA, Klein Z. (1995) Psychometric characteristics of the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS): reliability and factor structure for men and women. Psychopharmacol Bull; 31(2):425-33.
3) McCann BS, Scheele L, Ward N, Roy-Byrne P. (2000) Discriminant validity of the Wender Utah Rating Scale for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in adults. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci; 12(2):240-5.
23 Sep, 2015