How Rating Scales Work:
Cardiologists may use Electrocardiography to determine whether a patient complaining of chest pain may have abnormal heart muscle activity. Similarly, psychiatrists use rating scales to evaluate mental health. The rating scale approach converts qualitative symptoms, such as anxiety, into quantitative measures by asking the patient to rate their anxiety on a numerical scale. Rating scales can be of various types, but the most common rating scale used by psychiatrists is the self-rating scale. With certain disorders, such as delirium and dementia, where the patient’s verbal capacity or insight are compromised, self-rating scales don’t serve much purpose. But with conditions such as depression and anxiety, self-rating scaled can be very valuable.