Depression is highly prevalent among older adults in Lebanon and is recognized to be one of the highest in the region (Karam et al., 2006;Chaaya et al., 2007). Depression often goes undetected, especially in nonclinical settings, and its assessment remains problematic because of associated co-morbidities. Several screening tools were developed for the assessment of depression, the majority of which, however, are extensive and time consuming. The utility of a screening instrument is dependent on its psychometric properties and increases with its brevity. The World Health Organization (WHO) five-item index, initially developed to measure well-being among diabetics, is a short screening tool and has been shown to have adequate external and internal validity in detecting depression among older adults in Germany (Heun et al., 1999;Bonsignore et al., 2001).
This study was set out to determine the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the WHO-5 (WHO-5-A) as a screening tool for depression among older adults in Lebanon. The WHO-5-item screening test was translated and back translated from the original English version into Arabic by two independent professional translators. These versions were then discussed by two bilingual psychiatrists to agree on the most suitable terms to be included in the final version, which was then