[Depression in independently living elderly, a study with the Zung-12]

The psychometric properties of the Zung-12, a short rating scale for the measurement of depression, were studied in a random sample (N = 79) taken from an elderly population living in their own homes in a medium sized town. Both internal and test-retest reliability of the Zung-12 are satisfactory. According to factor analyses the rating scale has a unidimensional structure. High correlations with the Befindlichkeitsskala and the SSWO support the convergent validity. No relation is found between depression score and age, amount of help received and household composition. Women and subjects with lower education appeared to have higher depression scores than respectively men and subjects with higher education. Administration of the Zung-12 in the morning produces higher depression scores than in the afternoon. 10% of the subjects score above the cutting point on one of the occasions, 4% on both occasions. Reliable change scores were calculated to indicate the statistical significance of differences between two administrations.