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Comparison of the standard and structured interview guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in depressed
P J Moberg1, L W Lazarus, R I Mesholam
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA. MOBERG@BBLMAIL.PSYCHA.UPENN.EDU
Abstract:
The interrater reliability of the standard Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D) and a structured interview guide for the Ham-D (the SIGH-D) were compared in a sample of 20 elderly inpatients with major depression. Each patient was independently interviewed by four raters; two used the standard 24-item Ham-D, and the other two used a 24-item modified version of the Structured Interview Guide for the Ham-D. Systematic counterbalancing of raters and scales and a stringent evaluation schedule were used to counter position effects, spontaneous symptom change, or diurnal variation. The modified SIGH-D produced uniformly higher item- and summary-scale reliabilities than the unstructured Ham-D.