Psychometric study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale with health professionals

To assess the validity of the internal structure and reliability of the Brazilian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for screening depressive and anxious symptoms in primary care health professionals.

A psychometric study carried out with health professionals from primary health care services in a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, in 2023. The quality of the HADS instrument was assessed by internal structural validity, using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and internal consistency, using Cronbach's Alpha and McDonald's Omega coefficients.

217 health professionals took part in the study, of both sexes and from different professional categories, such as doctors, nurses, nursing technicians and assistants, dentists and oral health assistants, and community health workers. The EFA showed the two-factor model, anxiety and depression, as originally proposed. The CFA confirmed that the two-dimensional model was a good fit for the sample investigated. The Alpha and Omega values were 0.833 and 0.838 for anxiety and 0.763 and 0.766 for depression, respectively. Both indicated acceptable reliability.

The HADS is a valid and reliable instrument for screening symptoms of anxiety and depression in primary care professionals in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.