Introduction
The Altman scale asks about five areas: positive mood, confidence, sleep, speech and activity. It is a brief self-report of changes associated with elevated mood and energy.
A change from a person's usual pattern matters when describing these experiences. Sleeping less while still feeling energetic differs from wanting sleep but being unable to obtain it. Examples of changed routines, conversations and activity give the answers more context.
The Young Mania Rating Scale covers more areas through a clinician's assessment. Altman offers the respondent's own account. A dated record of mood, sleep and major changes can support a conversation about how these experiences developed over time.
Instructions
There are 5 groups of statements in this questionnaire, read each group of statements carefully. You should choose the statement in each group that best describes the way you have been feeling for the past week.
Please note: The word “occasionally” when used here means once or twice; “often” means several times or more and “frequently” means most of the time.
Scoring and result metrics
The result page reports a local screening score for this questionnaire. Use the score range, any subscale scores, and the interpretation band together rather than treating one number as a diagnosis.
- Score range
- 0-20
- Items scored
- 5
- Result indicators
- Total score / Interpretation band when available
Score interpretation bands
- 0-5Unlikely manic symptoms
Scores in the 0-5 range are unlikely to indicate Manic symptoms.
- 6-20Likely manic symptoms
Scores in the 6-20 range are likely to indicate Manic symptoms (with increasing severity as scores rise).
Interpretation bands summarize screening thresholds from the questionnaire source material. Higher scores usually indicate more of the measured concern unless the tool notes a different scoring rule.
Tool information
- Version
- 5 questions
- Administration
- Self-report
- Intended audience
- Adults reviewing recent changes in mood elevation, confidence, sleep need, speech, and activity level
Sources
- EG Altman, D Hedeker, JL Peterson, JM Davis. The Altman Self-Rating Mania Scale. 42(10): Biol Psychiatry 948-55 (1997).
- EG Altman, D Hedeker, JL Peterson, JM Davis. A comparative evaluation of three self-rating scales for acute mania. 50(6): Biol Psychiatry 468-71 (2001).
- STABLE National Coordinating Council Resource Toolkit Workgroup. STABLE Resource Toolkit 50-51. Last accessed: 2013-02-24.
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