Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire a psychological test?- Cross-Examining Psych Doctors, Tip #82

The Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADL Questionnaire) is frequently cited in psychological testing sections of psychological reports.  However, the ADL Questionnaire is not a psychological test in the sense that it is administered to a patient.  This measure is simply a list of six functions, “bathing, dressing, toileting, moving, continence and feeding.”  Instead of presenting the patient with any material to respond to, as is done with a psychological test, the doctor examining the patient simply rates the patient either “Yes” or “No” according to what the doctor believes is true about the six functions.  Clearly, the ADL Questionnaire does not obtain any objective measures of the patient but is simply an alternate way of the doctor subjectively stating their opinion about the patient.  Accordingly, in a medical-legal context, the ADL Questionnaire has no known objective relationship to the existence of any DSM psychological disorders.