title: Comparison of the standard and structured interview guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale in depressed geriatric inpatients.
abstract: The interrater reliability of the standard Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (Ham-D) and a structured interview guide for the Ham-D (the SIGH-D) were compared in a sample of 20 elderly inpatients with major depression. Each patient was independently interviewed by four raters; two used the standard 24-item Ham-D, and the other two used a 24-item modified version of the Structured Interview Guide for the Ham-D. Systematic counterbalancing of raters and scales and a stringent evaluation schedule were used to counter position effects, spontaneous symptom change, or diurnal variation. The modified SIGH-D produced uniformly higher item- and summary-scale reliabilities than the unstructured Ham-D.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia 19104, USA. MOBERG@BBLMAIL.PSYCHA.UPENN.EDU
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Moberg
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Lazarus
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Mesholam
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bilker
authors.forename: I L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Chuy
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Neyman
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Markvart
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002641:Chicago; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results