The British journal of clinical psychology / the British Psychological Society
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To demonstrate the use of Rasch analysis by assessing the appropriateness of utilizing the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) total score (HADS-14) as a measure of psychological distress. ⋯ The results of Rasch analysis support the use of the HADS-14 as a global measure of psychological distress. The study demonstrates the usefulness of Rasch analysis in assessing the psychometric properties of a scale and suggests that further use of this technique to assess the HADS-14 in other clinical groups is warranted.