title: The validity of the CGI severity and improvement scales as measures of clinical effectiveness suitable for routine clinical use.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Clinical Global Impression Scale (CGI) is established as a core metric in psychiatric research. This study aims to test the validity of CGI as a clinical outcome measure suitable for routine use in a private inpatient setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  The CGI was added to a standard battery of routine outcome measures in a private psychiatric hospital. Data were collected on consecutive admissions over a period of 24 months, which included clinical diagnosis, demographics, service utilization and four routine measures (CGI, HoNOS, MHQ-14 and DASS-21) at both admission and discharge. Descriptive and comparative data analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 786 admissions in total, there were 624 and 614 CGI-S ratings completed at the point of admission and discharge, respectively, and 610 completed CGI-I ratings. The admission and discharge CGI-S scores were correlated (r = 0.40), and the indirect improvement measures obtained from their differences were highly correlated with the direct CGI-I scores (r = 0.71). The CGI results reflected similar trends seen in the other three outcome measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CGI is a valid clinical outcome measure suitable for routine use in an inpatient setting. It offers a number of advantages, including its established utility in psychiatric research, sensitivity to change, quick and simple administration, utility across diagnostic groupings, and reliability in the hands of skilled clinicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, Barwon Health, University of Melbourne, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berk
authors.forename: Felicity
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Seetal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dodd
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Callaly
authors.forename: Shirley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernardo
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Trauer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011570:Psychiatry; D055815:Young Adult