Detection of depression in women of child-bearing age in non-Western cultures: a comparison of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the Self-Reporting Questionnaire-20 in Mongolia.
BACKGROUND
This study assesses, for the first time, the validity and internal reliability of the Edinburgh Post Natal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the WHO Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20-item version (SRQ-20) in detecting depression in Mongolian women of reproductive age.


METHODS
100 women age recruited from two psychiatric units specialising in depression (n = 55) and three community-based child immunisation clinics (n = 45) in Ulaanbataar, Mongolia, were formally psychiatrically assessed by a clinician and by administering the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R). Each woman also completed the EPDS and SRQ-20.


RESULTS
Ninety four women provided complete data and identical optimal cut-off points for both the EPDS (11.5) and SRQ-20 (8.5) were determined against both the psychiatrist's and CIS-R based diagnosis using standard validation parameters. On all parameters the SRQ-20 performed better than the EPDS. The sensitivity of the SRQ-20 in detecting depression was 93% and the specificity 97% against the psychiatrist's diagnosis. Internal reliability was satisfactory.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of a mixed clinical and community sample for validation, and a single psychiatrist may limit the generalisability of these results.


CONCLUSIONS
The SRQ-20 performed well and better than the EPDS in detecting depression in this group of Mongolian women.
Pollock
J I
JI
Health & Social Care, University of the West of England, Bristol, Blackberry Hill, UK. jon.pollock@uwe.ac.uk
Manaseki-Holland
S
S
Patel
V
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003469:Culture; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008986:Mongolia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires