title: Are men more depressed than women in Norway? Validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to evaluate the depression subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) by comparing the gender-specific scores with another self-rated measure of mental health (MH), the SF-12 Health Survey, in a large general population (N=16,116).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using a score of 8 as a cut-off point for depression, the odds ratio for depression among men versus women was 1.29 [P<.0001; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.16-1.43]. This contrasted with the results from the SF-12, in which the women had markedly and significantly poorer scores than men did. The women also reported a higher use of medicine for depression. Two of the seven HADS-D questions, related to interest in personal appearance and the ability to enjoy television, radio, and books, explained 70% of the higher depression scores among men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that the validity related to gender differences in HADS-D is highly questionable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Research and Development, Faculty of Health and Social Science, Bergen University College, Norway.
authors.forename: Monica W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Nortvedt
authors.forename: Trond
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Riise
authors.forename: Bjarte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sanne
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires