coronavirus_anxiety_scale: Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS)

In cliot: Clinical Indices and Outcomes Tools

Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS)

Description

Calculates the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) score, a 5-item mental health screener designed to identify probable cases of dysfunctional anxiety associated with the COVID-19 crisis. The scale focuses on the physiological manifestations of anxiety over the past 2 weeks.

Usage

coronavirus_anxiety_scale(dizziness, sleep_disturbance, paralyzed_frozen,
                          appetite_loss, nausea_stomach_pain)

Arguments

dizziness	Numeric (0-4). Frequency of feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or faint when reading/listening to news about the coronavirus.
sleep_disturbance	Numeric (0-4). Frequency of trouble falling or staying asleep because of thinking about the coronavirus.
paralyzed_frozen	Numeric (0-4). Frequency of feeling paralyzed or frozen when thinking about or exposed to information about the coronavirus.
appetite_loss	Numeric (0-4). Frequency of losing interest in eating when thinking about or exposed to information about the coronavirus.
nausea_stomach_pain	Numeric (0-4). Frequency of feeling nauseous or having stomach problems when thinking about or exposed to information about the coronavirus.

Details

Scoring Key (Frequency over last 2 weeks): 0 = Not at all. 1 = Rare, less than a day or two. 2 = Several days. 3 = More than 7 days. 4 = Nearly every day over the last 2 weeks.

Value

A list containing:

CAS_Score	The calculated total score (Range 0-20).
Result	"Positive Screen" (Score >= 9) or "Negative Screen".
Interpretation	Clinical context regarding dysfunctional anxiety.

References

Lee SA. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale: A brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death Stud. 2020;44(7):393-401. doi:10.1080/07481187.2020.1748481

Examples

# Example 1: High Anxiety
# Dizziness (2), Sleep (3), Frozen (2), Appetite (1), Nausea (2)
# Score = 10 (Positive)
coronavirus_anxiety_scale(2, 3, 2, 1, 2)

# Example 2: Low Anxiety
# Sleep disturbance only (2), all others 0
# Score = 2 (Negative)
coronavirus_anxiety_scale(0, 2, 0, 0, 0)

cliot documentation built on Dec. 1, 2025, 1:06 a.m.