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.
Department of Primary Care, University of Liverpool Medical School, Harrison Hughes Building, Liverpool L69 3GB, UK. mlw@liv.ac.uk
Mari
M
Lloyd-Williams
Mick
M
Dennis
Fiona
F
Taylor
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*