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KSADS-COMP Features

  • The pre-programmed branching logic guides the clinician (or patient) appropriately through the interview.
  • Insures that all required probes and supplements are administered. 
  • Data automatically stored in an electronic database, eliminating the need for data entry and possibility of data entry errors. 
  • Scoring is done by pre-programmed diagnostic algorithms based on DSM-5 criteria, saving clinician time and eliminating diagnostic errors.   
  • Individual and study-wide data are available for download at any time, enabling study enrollment and patient data monitoring in real time.

Developments

  • Updated for DSM-5. All diagnostic criteria have been updated for DSM-5, and include several new disorders introduced in DSM-5. The DSM-55 KSADS-COMP covers over 50 of the most commonly found diagnoses in children and adolescents.
  • Expanded evaluation of suicidal and homicidal ideation. Stand-alone modules provide a comprehensive evaluation of suicidal and homicidal ideation and behavior, and provide a score on the Columbia Classification Algorithm for Suicidal Assessment (C-CASA).
  • A new unstructured introductory interview. The introductory interview has been revised and expanded and includes probes about health, presenting complaint, current and prior psychiatric treatment, family psychiatric history, gender identity, school and social functioning, hobbies, and family and peer relations, including bullying. Discussion of these latter topics is extremely important, as it provides a context for eliciting mood symptoms (depression and irritability), and obtaining information to evaluate functional impairment. 
  • Flexible module selection. Clinicians have the option of selecting which modules to administer. In clinical trials, the modules can be preselected study-wide. This saves time at the beginning of each interview, as you don’t have to spend time choosing the modules for each patient. It also helps guard against clinician error, in choosing (or forgetting to choose) the required modules for your study. 
  • Embedded symptom rating scales provide valid measures of symptom severity in addition to diagnoses. Thus it can be used to monitor treatment progress and document treatment outcomes.
  • A new patient “pre-interview” (clinician-administered version). Clinicians have the option of having patients complete a brief self-report “pre-interview’ on the computer before being seen by the clinician. This information is then shown on the computer screen during the clinician KSADS-COMP interview with the patient. Having this information helps save clinician time, in that clinicians may paraphrase and confirm information already provided, vs. reading entire probes verbatim.
  • Preview panes (clinician-administered version). To obtain an accurate diagnosis in children, it is important to interview both the parent and the child independently. When the clinician KSADS-COMP is conducted, a preview pane appears, showing the answers from the other interview (child or parent, whoever was first) on the screen. This allows clinicians to compare answers in real time, and develop further probes and more focused follow-up questions.
  • Automated Suicide Alert (self-administered version). As a safety measure, the KSADS-COMP generates an alert that is sent to the clinician via email or text (or both) when suicidal or homicidal ideation is reported on the self-administered computer KSADS.