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A brief sensitive screening instrument for depression in late life
1University of Melbourne Department of Psychiatry, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Age and Ageing
|May 1, 1994
Summary
A new eight-item screening tool, the Even Briefer Assessment Scale for Depression (EBAS DEP), effectively identifies depression in elderly individuals. This scale offers a reliable and efficient method for screening depression in clinical settings.
Area of Science:
- Geriatric Medicine
- Psychiatry
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Depression is a significant health concern in the elderly population.
- Existing depression screening tools can be lengthy, posing challenges in busy clinical environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a concise and reliable depression screening scale for elderly individuals.
- To identify a subset of items from the Brief Assessment Scale (BAS) for depression (DEP) that meet specific psychometric criteria.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from 811 elderly subjects using the 21-item DEP scale.
- Selection of items to create a scale with <10 items and Cronbach's alpha >0.8.
- Validation of the new scale against DSM-III-R mood disorder diagnoses in 211 subjects.
Main Results:
- The Even Briefer Assessment Scale for Depression (EBAS DEP) was developed using eight items.
- The EBAS DEP demonstrated high reliability (Cronbach's alpha >0.8).
- The scale achieved a sensitivity of 0.91 and specificity of 0.72 for diagnosing DSM-III-R mood disorders (depressed).
Conclusions:
- The EBAS DEP is a valid and reliable short screening tool for depression in the elderly.
- Its brevity makes it suitable for use in time-constrained hospital and primary care settings.
- The EBAS DEP facilitates efficient depression screening, improving patient care accessibility.