VALIDATION OF THE HOSPITAL ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCALE AS A MEASURE OF SEVERITY OF GERIATRIC DEPRESSION

✍ Scribed by ALASTAIR J. FLINT; SANDRA L. RIFAT

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 375 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6230
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199611)11:11<991::aid-gps423>3.0.co;2-8

✦ Synopsis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) as a measure of severity of geriatric depression. One hundred and one elderly patients with DSM-III-R non-psychotic non-bipolar major depression were rated by the interviewing psychiatrist on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at index assessment and at the completion of treatment. In a blind fashion, patients completed the HAD at the same time points. At initial assessment, correlations between the depression subscale of the HAD (HAD-D) and the HRSD and MADRS were 0.51 (p<O.OOl) and 0.54 ( p c: 0.001) respectively, and at final assessment the correlations were 0.73 (< 0.001) and 0.79 ( p < 0.001) respectively. The HAD-D was also sensitive to change in the severity of depression (r, = 0.58, p < 0.001). These correlations were not of sufficient magnitude for the HAD-D to be used as an alternative to the HRSD or MADRS. However, in certain circumstances, the HAD-D may be a useful adjunct to these observer-rated scales.