A prospective study to compare three depression screening tools in patients who are terminally ill.
Depression is a significant symptom for approximately one in four palliative care patients. This study investigates the performance of three screening tools. Patients were asked to verbally rate their mood on a scale of 0-10; to respond "yes" or "no" to the question "Are you depressed?," and to complete the Edinburgh depression scale. They were also interviewed using a semi-structured clinical interview according to DSM-IV criteria. Complete data was available for 74 patients. For the single question, a "yes" answer had a sensitivity of 55% and specificity 74%. The Edinburgh depression scale at a cut-off point of > or =13 had a sensitivity of 70% and specificity of 80%. The verbal mood item with a cut-off point of > or =3 had a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 43%. The Edinburgh depression scale proved to be the most reliable instrument for detecting clinical depression in palliative care patients.
Lloyd-Williams
Mari
M
Department of Primary Care, University of Liverpool Medical School, Harrison Hughes Building, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK. mlw@liv.ac.uk
Dennis
Mick
M
Taylor
Fiona
F
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000523:psychology*