Centre for Policy on Ageing



Short versions of the geriatric depression scale — a study of their validity for the diagnosis of a major depressive episode according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV
Author(s)	Osvaldo P Almeida, Shirley A Almeida
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 14, no 10, October 1999
Pages	pp 858-865
Keywords	Depression ; Evaluation ; Diagnosis ; Brazil.
Annotation	The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for the short version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were assessed in 64 outpatients aged 60 and over meeting criteria for depressive disorder at a mental health unit of "Santa Casa" Medical School in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Those with severe sensory impairment, aphasia or Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score lower than 10 were excluded from the study. GDS-15, GDS-10 and GDS-4 are found to be good screening instruments for major depression as defined by both the ICD-10 Checklist of Symptoms and DSM-IV diagnostic criteria. The shorter four- and and one-item versions are of limited clinical value due to low reliability and failure to monitor the severity of the depressive episode. General practitioners (GPs) may benefit from the systematic use of short GDS versions to increase detection rates of depression among older people. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-000114217 A
Classmark	ENR: 4C: LK7: 7W6
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.