Standardization of the korean version of the geriatric depression scale: reliability, validity, and factor structure.
OBJECTIVE
We developed a Revised Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-KR) and examined its reliability, validity, and factor structures. We also estimated its optimal cutoff scores for major depressive disorder (MDD) and minor depressive disorder (MnDD) stratified by age and education.


METHODS
The GDS-KR was administered to 888 subjects (61 MDD patients, 45 MnDD patients, and 782 normal elders). Its internal consistency and test-retest reliability were examined. Its concurrent validity was evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients with the Korean version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-K) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). The mean GDS-KR scores of the MDD patients, MnDD patients and normal elders were compared to evaluate its discriminant validity. To evaluate its construct validity, a principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were performed to evaluate its diagnostic ability.


RESULTS
Chronbach's coefficient alpha for the GDS-KR was 0.90 and the test-retest reliability was 0.91 (p<0.01). The Pearson correlation coefficients of the GDS-KR scores with the CES-D-K and HAM-D scores were 0.63 (p<0.01) and 0.56 (p<0.01), respectively. The GDS-KR consisted of 5 factors. The optimal cut-off scores of the GDS-KR were 16/17 for MDD only and 15/16 for both MDD and MnDD. The optimal cutoff scores of the GDS-KR were higher in the less educated and younger subjects. The diagnostic accuracy for MDD of the GDS-KR was higher than that of the CES-D.


CONCLUSIONS
The GDS-KR was found to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for screening MDD and MnDD in late life.
Kim
Ji Yang
JY
Department of Brain Injury Rehabilitation, National Rehabilitation Center, Seongnam, Korea.
Park
Joon Hyuk
JH
Lee
Jung Jae
JJ
Huh
Yoonseok
Y
Lee
Seok Bum
SB
Han
Seung Kyoung
SK
Choi
Sung Won
SW
Lee
Dong Young
DY
Kim
Ki Woong
KW
Woo
Jong Inn
JI