The Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale (O-AS)
A printable PDF version of The Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale (O-AS) is available for download and use.
Lambe, S., Bird, J. C., Loe, B. S., Rosebrock, L., Kabir, T., Petit, A., Mulhall, S., Jenner, L., Aynsworth, C., Murphy, E., Jones, J., Powling, R., Chapman, K., Dudley, R., Morrison, A., Regan, E. O., Yu, L.-M., Clark, D., Waite, F. and Freeman, D. (2021) “The Oxford Agoraphobic Avoidance Scale,” Psychological Medicine. Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–11.
SCORING
Total avoidance score: Each item answered as ‘Yes, I could do this now’ should be coded as 0, and ‘No, I’d get too anxious’ should be coded as 1. Add the avoidance ratings together to form a total avoidance score, where higher scores indicate greater avoidance.
Total distress score: Distress ratings for each item should be added together to form a total distress score, where higher scores indicate greater severity of distress.
Anxiety can make it difficult for people to go into everyday situations. This questionnaire is all about anxiety in everyday situations. We want to know whether there are situations that you do not go into because of anxiety. We also want to know how anxious you think you would feel if you were in each of these situations.
For each task below please tick whether or not you could do it at the moment (yes, I could do this now/no, I would get too anxious) and rate how anxious/distressed you think you would feel doing each task on a scale from 0 (No distress) to 10 (Extreme distress).
Do you feel you could do this right now?
1: Stand outside your home on your own for 5 mins.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
2: Walk down a quiet street on your own.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
3: Walk down a busy street with someone you know.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
4: Travel on your own on the bus for several stops.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
5: Sit in the waiting room of your GP/health centre on your own for 5mins.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
6: Purchase an item in a local shop, from a shop assistant.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
7: Go to a shopping centre on your own for 15mins.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress
8: Sit in a café on your own for 10mins.
☐ Yes, I could do this now
☐ No, I'd get too anxious
How anxious would you feel doing this?
0 No distress
1
2
3
4
5 Moderate distress
6
7
8
9
10 Extreme distress