title: Indicators of depression in elderly and different screening methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among elderly and correlate the agreement between the screening methods used.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-section study of 137 elderly attending the Programa Vivendo a Terceira Idade [Living for the Elderly Program]. Depressive symptoms were screened by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, by Yesavage. Cohen´s kappa analyzed the degree of agreement of these scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of depressive symptoms screened by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was 62.8% and, by the Geriatric Depression Scale, 52.6%. The Spearman correlation between the results of scales obtained rho=0.387, p<0.000. The Kappa reliability coefficient was 0.41 and significance level of p<0.001. The screening methods showed sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 44%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both scales showed moderate agreement and were useful for detecting a relevant prevalence of the target outcome of depression among the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Amanda Gilvani Cordeiro
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Matias
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual do Sudoeste da Bahia, Jequié, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marília de Andrade
authors.initials: Mde A
authors.lastname: Fonsêca
authors.affiliation: Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria de Lourdes de Freitas
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública, Salvador, BA, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Antonio Almeida
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Matos
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards