title: Measurement of depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the validity of the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS) in a population of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine patients with moderate to severe COPD were examined using the ICD-10 criteria for depression. The mean age of the patients was 71 years and 33 (64%) were women. Forty-six (94%) of the patients were also evaluated using the 17-item HDS including the six-item Hamilton Depression subscale (HDSS). Internal and external validity were measured using factor analysis, Cronbach Coefficient alpha, Loevinger coefficient of homogeneity, correlation analysis and ROC-curves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-three (47%) of the patients were depressed according to the ICD-10 criteria for depression. The HDSS but not the HDS showed a good internal validity. An acceptable external validity was furthermore shown for the HDSS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HDSS can be recommended as a suitable depression rating scale for COPD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. kurtstage@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Kurt B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Stage
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Middelboe
authors.forename: Charlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pisinger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012494:Sampling Studies