title: Women who miscarry: The effectiveness and clinical utility of the Kessler 10 questionnaire in screening for ongoing psychological distress.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early pregnancy loss has been linked to enduring psychological morbidity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the utility of the Kessler 10 (K10) questionnaire as a brief screening instrument to identify women at risk for the development of psychiatric diagnoses three months post-miscarriage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 117 consecutive women presenting at a public hospital emergency department and receiving a diagnosis of miscarriage.
  
  
  METHODS
  K10 screen for psychological distress and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders to determine psychiatric diagnoses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A majority of women (81.2%) experienced elevated levels of distress initially, 24.8% in the very high range. They were not at increased risk of psychiatric diagnoses at three months compared with the general population; however, they were significantly more likely to report subsyndromal symptoms at this time compared with the general population. The baseline K10 score was the only significant predictor of distress at follow-up (r = 0.45, P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve shows that a cut-off of 14 on the K10 has suitable sensitivity (97%) and specificity (82%) for predicting ongoing psychological distress in women who miscarry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The K10 is effective in identifying women at risk for ensuring psychological symptoms following miscarriage.
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia. h.stallman@qut.edu.au
authors.forename: Helen M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Stallman
authors.forename: Brett M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kay Wilson
authors.forename: Kareen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adam
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult