A Cardiac Depression Visual Analogue Scale for the brief and rapid assessment of depression following acute coronary syndromes.
OBJECTIVE
A Cardiac Depression Visual Analogue Scale (CD-VAS) was developed as a rapid and easy method of assessing depressed mood in a cardiac population. The CD-VAS was contrasted against the Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II).


METHODS
Depression was assessed in 58 participants, 2 weeks postacute coronary syndrome (ACS), using the BDI-II and the CDS. Participants then completed the six-item CD-VAS for 14 consecutive days.


RESULTS
Using mean weekly scores, the CD-VAS had strong internal reliability (.91) and strong test-retest reliability that ranged from .85 to .97. Principal components analyses found that the CD-VAS only measured one component. The CD-VAS had strong concurrent validity with the BDI-II (r=.81) and the CDS (r=.82) and was able to differentiate between depressed and nondepressed participants.


CONCLUSIONS
The CD-VAS is a valid and reliable measure for brief and rapid repeated assessments of depressive symptoms in a cardiac population.
Di Benedetto
Mirella
M
School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Lindner
Helen
H
Hare
David L
DL
Kent
Stephen
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003710:Demography; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception