The Depression Scale (DEPS) as a case finder for depression in various subgroups of primary care patients

The quick and simple Depression Scale (DEPS) has been a popular self-rating depression scale in Finland for nearly 15 years. The purpose was to assess the validity of the DEPS in various subgroups of patients.

Primary care patients, aged 18-64, completed a postal questionnaire including the DEPS. Of the 1643 patients all screen-positive subjects and every 10th screen-negative subject were invited for interview (the Present State Examination, PSE). Complete DEPS scores were available for 410 patients. They were grouped by gender, age, marital status, perceived physical health, basic education and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) score. Separately for each subgroup, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were done, sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC), predictive values and likelihood ratios were calculated, and Cronbach's alpha was estimated.

The DEPS was valid in general, but best for patients with basic education longer than 9 years.

The key statistical figures for the DEPS were comparable to the figures for other short self-rating scales.

The DEPS is a valid case finder for primary care patients in the age group 18-64 years, and especially suitable for more highly educated patients. Future studies comparing the DEPS with other simple depression rating scales are needed.