The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) is a psychological assessment tool used to help diagnose attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adults. It is a self-report questionnaire that asks individuals to retrospectively recall and rate the frequency and severity of symptoms they experienced during childhood that are characteristic of ADHD.^[1][2] The assessment was released in 1993 after being developed by Paul H. Wender and his colleagues at the University of Utah School of Medicine.^[1][2][3]

Versions

The WURS exists in two main versions:^[2][3][4]

• WURS-61: The original 61-item version, which covers a wider range of symptoms and potential confounding factors.
• WURS-25: A shorter 25-item version designed for increased efficiency and ease of administration.

Scoring

The Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS) scores the same set of 25 questions in both the abbreviated version (WURS-25) and the extended version (WURS-61), which includes an additional 36 unscored questions. Respondents rate each question on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 points ("not at all or very slightly") to 4 points ("very much"). The cumulative score spans from 0 to 100. A cutoff score of 36 or higher was able to accurately identify 96% of adults with ADHD and 96% of adults without ADHD. When the cutoff score was raised to 46 or higher, the assessment was able to accurately identify 86% of adults with ADHD and 99% of adults without ADHD.^[1][4]

For the German short form (WURS-K), a cutoff score of 30 or higher is typically used to indicate a childhood history of ADHD symptoms, demonstrating a retest reliability of 90%. While the WURS-K and WURS-25 are highly correlated, research indicates that their cutoff scores are not directly interchangeable due to the WURS-K containing fewer items and focusing more on antisocial behavior compared to the mood and self-esteem factors found in the WURS-25.^[5][6][7]

See also

• Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry

References