Screening for Complicated Grief: When Less May Provide More

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to discover screening questions for initial assessments of psychiatric outpatients to identify which patients are likely experiencing complicated grief (CG). METHOD: We examined the responses of 235 outpatients to questionnaire items. One set came from the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG). This set represented events cited in clinical literature as indicators or risk factors for CG. Another set came from a factor analysis of items that define CG. We determined relations between items and CG, analyzed sensitivity and specificity, and compared the 2 sets of items. RESULTS: The factor analysis items were superior. The 2 best items correctly identified nearly 90% of patients with and without CG. CONCLUSION: The items can be transformed into screening questions to be used in initial interviews.