title: Effect of age on geriatric depression scale performance in Parkinson's disease.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the validity of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) in nonelderly (<65 years), young-elderly (age, 65-75), and old-elderly (>75 years) patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). 57 nonelderly, 88 young-elderly, and 81 old-elderly PD patients were administered the GDS-15 and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV depression module. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted for GDS-15 scores against a DSM-IV diagnosis of major or minor depression. The discriminant validity of the GDS-15 was high for nonelderly, young-elderly, and old-elderly subjects (ROC area under curve = 0.92, 0.91, and 0.95, respectively), with optimal dichotomization at a cut-off of 4/5 (85% sensitivity and 84% specificity in nonelderly; 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity in young-elderly) and 5/6 (90% sensitivity and 90% specificity in old-elderly). In conclusion, the GDS-15 has comparable validity in younger and older PD patients, suggesting its appropriateness as a depression screening instrument in PD patients of all ages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. weintrau@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weintraub
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saboe
authors.forename: Matthew B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Stern
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index