Can the Geriatric Depression Scale detect poststroke depression in Chinese elderly?
BACKGROUND
Little is known about the performance of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in the screening of post-stroke depression (PSD) among Chinese elderly.


METHODS
Three months after the index stroke, a research assistant administered the 15-item GDS to 127 Chinese elderly patients with acute stroke who were consecutively admitted to a general hospital. A psychiatrist, who was blind to the GDS scores, administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to all patients and made DSM-IV diagnosis of depression, which served as the benchmark for judging the performance of GDS in screening PSD.


RESULTS
The optimal cut-off point of GDS was 6/7. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of GDS and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, were 89, 73, 37, 98 and 90%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The sample size was small and there was no separate analysis of the performance of GDS for subtypes of PSD.


CONCLUSIONS
Due to its low positive predictive value, a more specific instrument should supplement GDS in screening PSD in Chinese elderly.
Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR. tangwk@cuhk.edu.hk
Wai Kwong
WK
Tang
Sandra S M
SS
Chan
Helen F K
HF
Chiu
Ka Sing
KS
Wong
Timothy C Y
TC
Kwok
Vincent
V
Mok
Gabor S
GS
Ungvari
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000209:etiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology*