title: A validation study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in a large sample of French employees.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a questionnaire widely used for detecting anxiety and depressive disorders. It is used extensively in France, but has never been the subject of a full study in a population at work. The objectives of this study were to present some psychometric properties of the HADS on a large sample of French employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  The HADS questionnaire was given to salaried employees at 19 major French companies as part of their biennial occupational medical examination. In 2011, 20992 employees filled in the questionnaire. HADS's structure was studied first by exploratory, then confirmatory factorial analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The model selected was the original two-factor structure. The two subscales showed good internal consistency. Women scored higher than the men for anxiety and depression; the scores increased with age; engineers and managers had lower average scores than other occupational status (blue- or white-collar workers and technicians).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the analyses are consistent with those in literature relating to other populations studied in other countries. The HADS questionnaire is pertinent for detecting symptoms of anxiety and depression in a population of people at work.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Lorraine University, Bld Albert 1er, 54000, Nancy, France. christine.bocerean@univ-lorraine.fr.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bocéréan
authors.affiliation: Psychologist, associated researcher, Cabinet Préventis, Centre d'intervention pour la santé au travail, 91 rue Taitbout, 75009, Paris, France. emilie.dupret@preventis.fr.
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dupret
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006761:Hospitals / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*