CAT-MH® and K-CAT® in the news including videos, news articles, and academic publications. Check it out!
Request A DemoFollow Our LinkedIn!Social vulnerability has direct link to suicide risk, study shows
New research from the University of Chicago shows that social vulnerability is a key risk factor for suicide. The study found that people living in socially vulnerable communities are more likely to die by suicide, even after accounting for factors like income and education level. This important research sheds light on the need for more support and resources in these communities to help prevent suicide.
Computerized adaptive screen for suicide best for teens with psych symptoms
“The Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) and the Computerized Adaptive Screen for Suicidal Youth (CASSY) instrument are equally effective for universal screening of teens presenting in the emergency department […] .However, among patients with psychiatric symptoms, CASSY performed better than the ASQ (0.72 versus 0.57).”
Expanded screening tool could improve substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment
“Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine have expanded a screening tool that could lead to more accurate and timely diagnoses — and therefore treatment — of substance use disorder. […] Researchers said the computer adaptive test is not only brief but has the best psychometric properties of any substance use disorder assessment available today.”
Computerized Adaptive Test for Suicide Risk Shows Predictive Accuracy 1 Year Out
“Scores on the Computerized Adaptive Test Suicide Scale (CAT-SS) were strongly associated with future suicide-related outcomes in US veterans over 12 months, according to study results published in PLoS One. […] These findings highlight the utility of the CAT-SS for both initial identification and continued monitoring of risk.”
Researchers from the Veteran’s Health Administration, Academia, and Adaptive Testing Technologies Validate the Computerized Adaptive Test Suicide Scale (CAT-SS) for U.S. Military Veterans
“A promising new research study published today in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) ONE demonstrates that a newly developed computerized adaptive assessment for suicide risk severity can be used among military veterans to accurately predict suicidal outcomes at baseline and at 6- and 12-month marks.”
Developing the CASSY Suicide Screening Tool
“In Part 2, of this video, Cheryl King, PhD […] discusses the 2 studies that determined the validity and accuracy of the CASSY suicide screening tool. Dr King addresses the personalization of this screening tool and how it assists emergency department physicians in creating a follow-up plan and correctly identifying underlaying mental health conditions, which can go undetected in the younger population.”
The Variable You Can’t Touch: Advances in Mental Health Measurements
“In a session titled ‘Virtual and Electronic Assessment and Intervention Tools: Advances in Mental Health Measurement’ at the 2022 APSARD Virtual Conference, Robert Gibbons, PhD, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Chicago, discussed the subjectivity of mental health measurement and how problems arise in emergency departments, primary care, pediatric clinics, child welfare systems, judicial systems, and more.”
Similarities and Differences Between PTSD, Depression, and Other Major Mood Disorders
“Lisa Brenner PhD, director of the Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, Denver, Colorodo, discusses how the similarities between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other major mood disorders, such as depression, can lead to misdiagnosis.”
Adaptive Testing Technologies Announces Screener to Help Identify Youth At-Risk of Suicide: Available for License
“The CASSY is the first validated universal screen for suicide risk in pediatric emergency departments and other settings where large-scale screening for suicidality occurs. The CASSY is a Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) that represents a scientific breakthrough in pediatric suicide risk screening and measurement.”
Rapid, Adaptive Computer-Based Screener for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Validated Among Veterans
“The study authors concluded that the CAD-PTSD and CAT-PTSD tools may allow for rapid PTSD screening among veterans, potentially reducing the burden for both patient and clinician in the routine veteran health care setting.”
New Developments in Screening Tools for PTSD
In Part 1 of his interview with Psych Congress Network, Robert Gibbons, PhD, Blum-Riese Professor of Biostatistics, discusses new developments in screening tools for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) using computerized adaptive testing. In Part 2, Dr Gibbons further discusses the machine-learning algorithm used to derive diagnosis of PTSD.
Computerized adaptive assessment tools valid for veterans with PTSD
“According to the researchers, measurement approaches such as CAT aim to move the times to the patient’s severity level; however, in computerized adaptive diagnosis (CAD), the goal is to move the items at the tipping point between a positive and negative diagnosis. Thus, both methods are adaptive but incorporate different statistical approaches.”
Researchers from the Veterans Administration, Academia, and Adaptive Testing Technologies Develop and Validate New Rapid PTSD Computerized Adaptive Assessment Tools for U.S. Military Veterans
“CAD-PTSD and CAT-PTSD were equal to or outperformed diagnostic accuracy of standard tests and significantly reduced patient and clinician burden.”
Meet CASSY: the suicide prediction algorithm targeting US youth
“According to data published in JAMA Psychiatry, the Computerized Adaptive Screen for Suicidal Youth (CASSY) algorithm has demonstrated a sensitivity of 82.4% and a specificity of 80% in predicting a suicide attempt. The researchers behind the tool say it has the potential to facilitate linkage to mental health services for suicidal youth – potentially preventing future suicide attempts from occurring.”
National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) Newsletter – February 2021
“As the National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) enters its second year, project momentum continues to move forward … The study just finalized a Computerized Adaptive Test for Mental Health (CAT-MH) as another screening tool, to be used in early 2021.” The National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) is a large-scale research effort to improve understanding of mental health and health behaviors in the United States.
Adaptive Testing Technologies Collaborating with RTI on The National Study of Mental Health (NSMH)
The CAT-MH® is being used as a first stage diagnostic screener in a National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) conducted by SAMHSA and implemented by RTI. The National Study of Mental Health (NSMH) is a research effort that will provide critical information on mental health and health behaviors in the United States. This initiative represents one of the largest studies on mental health in the United States.
NIMH: Adaptive Screener (CASSY) May Help Identify Youth at Risk of Suicide
Press Release: “The screener, called the computerized adaptive screen for suicidal youth (CASSY), consists of 11 questions on average and correctly identified 82.4% of youth who went on to attempt suicide in the three months following screening. The results suggest this screener could serve as an easy-to-use way for providers to detect youth suicide risk in emergency department settings.”
Dr. Gibbons & Dr. Alegria present to MIDAP: El Instituto Milenio para la Investigación en Depresión y Personalidad (MIDAP)
The Millennium Institute for Research on Depression and Personality (MIDAP) and the MIDE UC Measurement Center begin their scientific-academic collaboration by organizing an international seminar to address the issue of routine measurement in the provision of mental health services. Dr. Gibbons discusses the CAT-MH® and its advances in mental health measurement. Dr. Alegria discusses cross-cultural studies in the assessment of mental health.
Effect of the Wingman-Connect Upstream Suicide Prevention Program for Air Force Personnel in Training: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial
Wingman-Connect is the first universal prevention program to reduce suicidal ideation and depression in a general Air Force population. The primary outcomes were scores on the suicidal ideation and depression scales of the CAT-MH® and self-reports of military occupational impairment. Reduced depression symptoms were maintained through 6 months, and the odds of having elevated depression symptoms were lower (odds ratio, 0.80) at either follow-up point.
Virtual Mindfulness: One ACO’s Effort to Prepare for Tsunami of MH Needs Due to Pandemic
“The virtual mindfullness workshop is a creative way to respond to the collective trauma of the global pandemic. The workshops are free to enrollees and staff of the Cambridge Health Alliance. CHA is a Harvard-affiliated community health system and ACO that includes two hospitals and a network of primary and specialty care centers serving more than 140,000. The workshop, “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Skills for Resilience (MBCT-R) During COVID-19,” is a population health initiative effort aimed at anticipating what clinicians at CHA see as a tsunami of mental health needs arising from the pandemic.”
Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News: IBD Linked to Depression and Anxiety
“Clinically active inflammatory bowel disease is positively correlated with symptoms of depression and anxiety, researchers have found. Previous studies proposed a relationship between depression, anxiety and IBD, but its directionality and causality remain unknown. For the new study, researchers at a tertiary IBD clinic screened consecutive patients for depression and anxiety using the validated Computerized Adaptive Test for Mental Health (CAT-MH®), a novel computerized testing technology in which patients used a smart device to take a short test that adapted in length and content based on their previous answers.”
Exploring Key Policy Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Care for People with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
“Individuals with mental health and substance use disorders, particularly those with the most serious conditions, face substantial obstacles to receiving effective, evidence-based care. Despite their high rates of co-occurrence with other medical conditions, the integration of services for mental health and substance use disorders into the broader health care delivery and financing system has proved challenging. The Forum’s initial workshop will take a broad approach to examine several related overarching topics.”
Telehealth Takes on Pregnancy Depression Amid Payment Barriers
“Tools like CAT-MH®, which is being used at some Veterans Affairs facilities and university hospitals, have the potential to help doctors better diagnose and manage depression, anxiety, and other conditions in their pregnant patients.”
CAT-MH® Poster Presented at MONA Society: Uncovering the Biological and Genetic Factors Associated with Perinatal Mood Disorders
Several researchers at NorthShore University and the University of Chicago employed the CAT-MH® to assist in uncovering underlying biological processes and changes in ‘omic measurements associated with diagnosis and with major mood changes in order to identify precise targets for therapy. This poster was presented at the Marce Society for North America (MONA).
Elizabeth Wenzel wins NNDC’s Best Poster Award Comparing the CAT-MH® and the PHQ in Perinatal Women
Elizabeth Wenzel presents a poster at NNDC on screening for perinatal depression using the CAT-MH® in urban-dwelling African American and Hispanic women, winning best poster.
Professor Robert D. Gibbons to Discuss CAT-MH™ at Annual Symposium on Transforming Suicide: Prevention, Care, Research, and Policy
This event will be held on Tuesday, October 22, 2019, at the University of Chicago’s Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery.
K-CAT™ Featured in IDEAS Faculty and Staff Newsletter: A Brief Diagnostic Tool (K-CAT®) for use in Emergency Departments…
“…is aimed at improving the mental health screening of youth presenting to emergency departments (ED’s), and their referral to services in the community. The project will not only test this new tablet-based personalized screening tool, the K-CAT®, but will also test a disposition protocol to increase ED providers’ confidence in making mental health diagnoses, and managing suicidal thoughts and behaviors and severe depression — all with the goal of facilitating the early identification of serious mental health problems in youth, and more quickly referring and linking them to services in the community.”
UChicago Medicine, At the Forefront: Groundbreaking Online Test Streamlines Mental Health Screening and Measurement in Healthcare and Beyond
“Personalized medicine has become a byword of modern healthcare. By tailoring interventions to an individual’s specific needs, practitioners and patients are more likely to see improved outcomes. Robert Gibbons, PhD, Blum-Riese Professor of Biostatistics and Director of the Center for Health Statistics, has developed a highly personalized, effective and efficient electronic screening and measurement tool for quickly identifying and monitoring mental health conditions in the clinical setting and beyond.”
Without Wasting a Word: Extreme Improvements in Efficiency and Accuracy Using Computerized Adaptive Testing for Mental Health Disorders (CAT-MH™)
Adaptive tests for a wide variety of mental health traits (e.g., depression, anxiety, mania, substance misuse, suicidality) are now available in a cloud-based environment. These tests have been validated in a variety of settings against lengthy structured clinical interviews with excellent results and even higher reliability than fixed-length tests. Adaptive tests, easily integrated into electronic health records, will provide increased precision of measurement and decreased burden of measurement.
UChicago News: How an Online Test Might Help Identify Mental Illnesses
“UChicago scholars have partnered with Cook County to start piloting use of the CAT-MH®, an online test for mental illnesses they hope will help connect people to needed services.”
An Inflammatory Profile Linked to Increased Suicide Risk
Suicide risk assessments are often challenging for clinicians, and therefore, biological markers are warranted as guiding tools in these assessments. Suicidal patients display increased cytokine levels in peripheral blood, although the composite inflammatory profile in the subjects is still unknown.To address this, we measured 45 immunobiological factors in peripheral blood and identified the biological profiles associated with cross-diagnostic suicide risk and depression, respectively. A unique immunobiological profile was linked to increased suicide risk. The profile was different from that observed in patients with depressive symptoms, and indicates that granulocyte mediated biological mechanisms could be activated in patients at risk for suicide.
Depression in Emergency Department Patients and Association with Health Care Utilization
We sought to estimate the rate of severity of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a nonpsychiatric ED population and its association with subsequent ED visits and hospitalizations. Standardized assessment tools that provide rapid, accurate, and precise classification of MDD severity have the potential to play an important role in identifying ED patients in need of urgent psychiatric resource referral.
Validation of the Computerized Adaptive Test for Mental Health in Primary Care
The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for depression in the general adult population. Although screening questionnaires for depression and anxiety exist in primary care settings, electronic health tools such as computerized adaptive tests based on item response theory can advance screening practices. This study evaluated the validity of the CAT-MH® for screening for MDD and assessing MDD and anxiety severity among adult primary care patients.
Researchers at UCLA are Leveraging the CAT-MH® as an Important Tool in their Fight Against Depression
Fox News reports on UCLA launching an ambitious new program to cure depression. Using a mobile interface form of CAT-MH®, researchers hope to identify the genetic, cognitive, and environmental factors associated with depression by surveying 100,000 volunteers. These volunteers will be encouraged to participate over a long period of time to better understand the root causes of depression. UCLA’s approach marks the first time there has been a campus-wide effort to eradicate a disease.
UCLA Offers Innovative Approach to Fighting Depression on Campus
Researchers at UCLA leverage the CAT-MH® to help identify students at risk of depression and also trains student coaches who can help and understand what those struggling are going through.
In a Fight Against Depression, UCLA Relies on Technology
In what amounts to a research moonshot, the University of California at Los Angeles aims to “cut the burden of depression in half” by 2050 and to eliminate it by the end of the century. In a study conducted since last year as part of the Depression Grand Challenge — an interdisciplinary research project that adopts the popular “grand challenge” format to solve major social or scientific problems — UCLA researchers have used an online program to measure the anxiety and depression levels of nearly 4,000 students.
High-Frequency Measurement of Depressive Severity in a Patient Treated for Severe Treatment-Resistant Depression with Deep Brain Stimulation
We present, to our knowledge, the first example of high-frequency depressive severity measurement-based DBS treatment in particular and psychiatric treatment in general. We demonstrated the feasibility of daily depressive severity measurement at high levels of precision and compliance. Clinician ratings confirm the general pattern of treatment benefit, but mask the marked variability in mood and more marked periods of benefit and decline.
Development of a Computerized Adaptive Test Suicide Scale – The CAT-SS
For this study, a psychometric harmonization between related suicide, depression, and anxiety symptom domains that provides a more balanced and complete spectrum of suicidal symptomatology was developed. The objective of this article is to describe the results of the early stages of computerized adaptive testing development for a suicide scale and pave the way for the final stage of validation. The CAT-SS is able to accurately measure the latent suicide dimension with a mean of 10 items in approximately 2 minutes.
UCLA Depression Grand Challenge Worldwide uses CAT-MH®
UCLA and dozens of collaborators have a solution to offer sustainable state-of the-art treatment to all—using smartphones and the internet, our team offers an integrated treatment and technology solution to diagnose, treat and continuously monitor individuals with depression from underserved populations. The Depression Grand Challenge Worldwide (DGCW) team will deploy this strategy working with partners at sites in five countries—the United States, China, Colombia, South Africa and Uganda. In doing so, the DGCW will create a network of treatment teams and investigators empowered to enhance health and productivity not only within their own communities, but also in communities around the world.
Archives of Women’s Mental Health: The Experience of Depression, Anxiety, and Mania among Perinatal Women
We assessed differential item functioning (DIF) based on computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to examine how perinatal mood disorders differ from adult psychiatric disorders. The CAT-Mental Health (CAT-MH®) was administered to 1614 adult psychiatric outpatients and 419 perinatal women. There was little evidence of DIF for depression and anxiety symptoms in perinatal women. This was not true for mania. Now calibrated for perinatal women, the CAT-MH® can be evaluated for longitudinal symptom monitoring.
