Screening for depression in geriatric medical patients.
Depression, a common and treatable psychiatric disorder in later life, is often overlooked in geriatric medical patients. The authors evaluated the validity of two self-rating depression scales, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Popoff Index of Depression, for 55 elderly patients. They compared these ratings with the diagnosis assigned by a psychiatrist who was blind to scale results and who interviewed these patients using DSM-III criteria. The two scales correctly classified 80% and 69% of the subjects, respectively. The authors identify six items from the two scales that may serve as a simple screening instrument for the detection of depression in geriatric medical patients.
D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D001168:Arthritis / Q000523:psychology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000523:psychology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007592:Joint Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012803:Sick Role