title: Evaluation of estimating missed answers in conners adult ADHD rating scale (screening version).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scale (CAARS) is among the valid questionnaires for evaluating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in adults. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the validity of the estimation of missed answers in scoring the screening version of the Conners questionnaire, and to extract its principal components.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was performed on 400 participants. Answer estimation was calculated for each question (assuming the answer was missed), and then a Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to evaluate the difference between the original answer and its estimation. In the next step, principal components of the questionnaire were extracted by means of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Finally the evaluation of differences in the whole groups was provided using the Multiple Comparison Procedure (MCP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicated that a significant difference existed between the original and estimated answers for some particular questions. However, the results of MCP showed that this estimation, when evaluated in the whole group, did not show a significant difference with the original value in neither of the questionnaire subscales. The results of PCA revealed that there are eight principal components in the CAARS questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The obtained results can emphasize the fact that this questionnaire is mainly designed for screening purposes, and this estimation does not change the results of groups when a question is missed randomly. Notwithstanding this finding, more considerations should be paid when the missed question is a critical one.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Farnaz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghassemi
authors.forename: Mohammad Hassan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Moradi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tehrani-Doost
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Abootalebi