Scientific methodology
How instruments are chosen, scored, reviewed, and limited.
1 · Instrument selection
Ramchirs includes questionnaires that meet three criteria: (1) they are established instruments published in peer-reviewed literature or by recognized authorities; (2) they have defined, published scoring rules and interpretation ranges; (3) their use on this platform is lawful — public-domain instruments, instruments free for clinical/research use with attribution, or instruments for which licensing permission is in progress. Each instrument’s status is published in the registry table below.
2 · Deterministic scoring
Scoring is performed by a versioned, deterministic engine: pure functions over versioned instrument definitions. The same answers always produce the same score. No generative AI is involved in scoring, band assignment, or interpretation selection. The engine’s rules are the instruments’ published scoring rules — sum scores, reverse-coded items, subscale domains, grid scoring (ASRS), cluster rules (PCL-5), and instrument-specific cutoffs — each recorded per instrument version.
Anonymous screenings are scored in the browser. Signed-in users’ saved submissions are re-scored authoritatively on the server from stored responses; stored numbers are display data, never authority.
3 · Interpretation content
For every instrument, editorial staff write interpretation content from the research literature: what the instrument measures, what each score band suggests, what the score does not establish, known limitations, contextual factors, next steps, and professional pathways. All interpretation content uses screening language — patterns, ranges, suggestions — and never diagnostic language.
Every interpretation carries a clinical-review status. Content marked pending has not been approved by a licensed clinical reviewer. We publish this status openly on every instrument page; instruments with unreviewed interpretations are not offered as live screenings.
4 · Safety design
Instruments containing self-harm items (PHQ-9 item 9, AUDIT items 9–10, and equivalents) trigger an immediate, prominent crisis-support pathway on the results page. Crisis resources are verified against official sources with verification dates published. Safety pathways render without ads, without analytics, and without tracking.
5 · Comparison rules
Longitudinal comparison is only performed between results from the same instrument, the same instrument version, and the same subject type. Raw scores from different instruments use different scales and are never plotted together, converted, or combined into an overall “mental health score”.
6 · Instrument registry
Live status of every instrument in the library:
| Instrument | License basis | Status | Clinical review | Items verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demo Check v1.0 | NOT APPLICABLE Synthetic demonstration content authored for this project. Not a clinical instrument; no licensing applies. | UI demonstration | pending | Yes |
| PHQ-9 v1.0 | PUBLIC DOMAIN The PHQ-9 is distributed by Pfizer at phqscreeners.com with the statement that the PHQ screens are free to use, reproduce, and distribute. No permission fee applies. Legal review for commercial web distribution is recorded in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| PHQ-2 v1.0 | PUBLIC DOMAIN The PHQ-2 is distributed by Pfizer at phqscreeners.com as free to use, reproduce, and distribute. | Archived | pending | Yes |
| GAD-7 v1.0 | PUBLIC DOMAIN The GAD-7 is distributed by Pfizer at phqscreeners.com with the statement that the PHQ/GAD screens are free to use, reproduce, and distribute. | Available | pending | Yes |
| GAD-2 v1.0 | PUBLIC DOMAIN The GAD-2 is distributed by Pfizer at phqscreeners.com as free to use, reproduce, and distribute. | Archived | pending | Yes |
| SPIN v1.0 | LICENSE REQUIRED SPIN is copyright the authors. Written permission for commercial web distribution has NOT yet been obtained. The questionnaire is disabled until permission is documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Pending |
| ASRS-v1.1 Screener v1.1 | FREE WITH ATTRIBUTION The ASRS-v1.1 is published by the World Health Organization under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO and distributed freely with the WHO/Workgroup for Adult ADHD materials. Attribution required. Commercial web use is flagged for legal review in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| AQ-10 v1.0 | LICENSE REQUIRED AQ-10 items are published in NICE clinical guidance (CG142, QS2) for adult services. Copyright of the AQ is retained by the authors; written permission for commercial web distribution has NOT yet been obtained. Disabled until documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Yes |
| AQ-50 v1.0 | FREE RESEARCH CLINICAL USE The AQ is distributed by the Autism Research Centre (University of Cambridge) for research and clinical use with citation; the AQ-10 subset is published in NICE CG142/QS2. Commercial web distribution is under legal review (docs/LICENSES.md). | Available | pending | Pending |
| PCL-5 v1.0 | FREE WITH ATTRIBUTION PCL-5 is published by the US National Center for PTSD and is freely available for non-commercial research, clinical, and education use with citation (ptsdchecklists.mysite.va.gov). Commercial web use is flagged for legal review in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| PC-PTSD-5 v1.0 | FREE WITH ATTRIBUTION PC-PTSD-5 is published by the US National Center for PTSD and freely available for research, clinical, and education use with citation. Commercial web use is flagged for legal review in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| AUDIT v1.0 | FREE WITH ATTRIBUTION AUDIT is a WHO instrument, freely available for use with attribution (who.int). Recorded in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| AUDIT-C v1.0 | FREE WITH ATTRIBUTION AUDIT-C derives from the WHO AUDIT, freely available for use with attribution (who.int). Recorded in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| ISI v1.0 | LICENSE REQUIRED ISI is copyright D. Morin and is distributed for clinical, research, and industry use with citation. Written permission for commercial web distribution has NOT yet been obtained. Disabled until documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Yes |
| PSS-10 v1.0 | FREE RESEARCH CLINICAL USE PSS is distributed by Dr. Sheldon Cohen for research, teaching, and clinical use with citation (sheldontscohen.com). Commercial web use requires confirmation — flagged in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Yes |
| WHO-5 v1.0 | PUBLIC DOMAIN WHO-5 is a World Health Organization instrument, free to use with citation (who.int / worldmentalhealth.org). Recorded in docs/LICENSES.md. | Available | pending | Yes |
| MDQ v1.0 | FREE RESEARCH CLINICAL USE MDQ is copyright the authors (McLean Hospital). Freely distributed for clinical/research use with citation; written permission for commercial web distribution has NOT yet been obtained. Disabled until documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Yes |
| SCOFF v1.0 | FREE RESEARCH CLINICAL USE SCOFF is copyright the author (S. Morgan, Oxford Health NHS Trust) and is freely available for clinical and research use with citation. Written permission for commercial web distribution has NOT yet been obtained. Disabled until documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Yes |
| OCI-R v2.0 | FREE RESEARCH CLINICAL USE The OCI-R is distributed by the authors for research and clinical use with citation (Foa et al., 2002). Commercial web distribution is under legal review (docs/LICENSES.md). | Available | pending | Pending |
| EPDS v1.0 | LICENSE REQUIRED EPDS is copyright EPDS Ltd (epds.co.uk). A licence is required for use in commercial applications; no licence has been obtained. Disabled until documented in docs/LICENSES.md. | Pending license | pending | Pending |
This assessment is an informational screening tool, not a medical diagnosis. Results are based on your responses and should not replace evaluation by a qualified healthcare professional.