Open AccessEvaluation of three nurse‐administered depression rating scales on acute admission and continuing care geriatric psychiatry wards
Author(s) -
Elanchenny Nalini,
Shah Ajit
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.99
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , rating scale , depression (economics) , geriatric depression scale , reliability (semiconductor) , scale (ratio) , psychology , psychiatry , geriatric psychiatry , acute care , internal consistency , mood , psychometrics , medicine , depressive symptoms , clinical psychology , anxiety , developmental psychology , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics , economics , macroeconomics , health care , economic growth
Several instruments measuring depression in institutional settings have been described but individual instruments have only occasionally been compared with each other. Some psychometric properties, including internal consistency, test‐retest and inter‐rater reliability, and concurrent validity of three nurse‐administered depression rating scales were evaluated on acute admission and continuing care geriatric psychiatry wards. The Depressive Signs Scale (DSS) was significantly correlated with the Depression in Dementia Mood Scale (DDMS) (rho = +0.59) and the Cornell Scale (rho = +0.71). The DDMS was correlated with the Cornell Scale (rho = +0.32). The internal consistency, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, for the DSS, the DDMS and the Cornell Scale was 0.47, 0.64 and 0.74 respectively. The test‐retest reliability of the DSS, the DDMS and the Cornell Scale was 0.73, 0.62 and 0.83 respectively. The DSS and the Cornell scale had poor inter‐rater reliability, but the DDMS had satisfactory inter‐rater reliability of 0.59. These scales, with a novel form of administration, are not suitable for detecting significant clinical depression in acutely admitted and continuing‐care geriatric psychiatry inpatients. However, the DDMS has satisfactory properties for use in measuring presence and quantity of depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2001 Whurr Publishers Ltd.