title: Measurement of depression in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis: validity of the Beck Depression Inventory.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To validate a Spanish version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five patients with RA seen in our outpatient clinic were included. A semistructured psychiatric interview was applied, and the following instruments were administered: the BDI, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), and the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index. Diagnostic properties of the BDI for both full-length and smaller versions taking out somatic items were compared against a gold standard. The gold standard for comparison was the diagnosis of depression according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised Criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven percent of RA patients had a diagnosis related to depression, most of which were major depression or dysthymia. The original BDI showed a high sensitivity (92%) and a high correlation with the HAD (r = 0.83). Exclusion of somatic items in modified versions of the BDI had a similar performance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The original BDI is a suitable instrument to detect depression in Mexican RA patients. Nevertheless, shorter versions without some of the somatic items also show an adequate performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Instituto Nacional de la Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico DF, Mexico.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Suárez-Mendoza
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Cardiel
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Caballero-Uribe
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Ortega-Soto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Márquez-Marín
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results