Centre for Policy on Ageing



The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale — assessment of depression in the medically ill elderly
Author(s)	Rebecca L Schein, Harold G Koenig
Journal title	International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 12, no 4,, April 1997
Pages	pp 436-446
Keywords	Depression ; Ill health ; In-patients ; Screening ; Evaluation.
Annotation	In this study, 76 individuals completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale (CES-D) and a psychiatric interview, from which DSM-III-R diagnoses were obtained. Analyses of sensitivity and specificity indicated that use of an alternative scoring method which more closely approximates current diagnostic criteria for depression may improve the test's predictive power. Use of stringent cut-scores was not supported, as sensitivity was compromised. Item analyses demonstrated that seven of the CES-D items failed to discriminate major, minor and non-depressed patients, and that several of these items tapped somatic symptoms. These findings suggest that validity of the CES-D may be compromised when used with older medical patients, and modifications for its use are recommended.
Accession Number	CPA-970807231 A
Classmark	ENR: CH: LF7: 3V: 4C
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing

...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.