title: Development and validation of an instrument to detect depression in nursing homes. Nursing homes short depression inventory (NH-SDI).
abstract: Depression is often overlooked in elderly nursing home residents because symptoms may be masked or dismissed as an inevitable consequence of ageing. Current tools for the detection of depression in institutionalised older people are not always specific.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To construct and verify an instrument with which to detect depression in elderly nursing home residents (NH-SDI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Firstly for the construction, 328 elderly people were selected at random from the residents of 17 nursing homes in France, and examined by a single investigator. The examination included a psychiatric assessment, an evaluation of cognitive function using the MMSE, an evaluation of depressive state using four different instruments (mini-GDS, Goldberg, DMAS, CSDD), and assessment of any changes in behaviour in those suffering from dementia, using the NPI. A second stage was to confirm NH-SDI in 99 institutionalised subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Following the selection of items, we created a scale of 16 dichotomous items (NH-SDI). The internal consistency was satisfactory (α Cronbach = 0.85), as was its reliability with a sensitivity of 85.1% and a specificity of 86.5% for a cut-off score above 5.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NH-SDI appears to be a useful instrument for the detection of depression in nursing homes and can easily be applied by healthcare staff as part of routine procedures.
authors: CMRR-The Limousin Center for Memory Research, University of Limoges, France; Institute of Epidemiology and Tropical Neurology, University of Limoges, France. aniejean@hotmail.com
authors: Annie
authors: A
authors: Prado-Jean
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Couratier
authors: Laurent Amounou
authors: LA
authors: Bénissan-Tevi
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Nubukpo
authors: Michel
authors: M
authors: Druet-Cabanac
authors: Jean Pierre
authors: JP
authors: Clément
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009735:Nursing Homes; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity