A study of the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory‐II, the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in a sample from a healthy population. Issue 1 (21st November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kjærgaard, Marie; Arfwedson Wang, Catharina Elisabeth; Waterloo, Knut; Jorde, Rolf
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian journal of psychology. Volume 55:Issue 1(2014)
• Page Start: 83
• Page End: 89
• Publication Date: 2013-11-21
• Subjects: Psychology -- Periodicals; 150
• DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12090
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0036-5564

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="sjop12090-abs-0001"> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>The objective of this study is to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Beck Depression inventory‐II (BDI‐II) and the Montgomery and Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) for screening for major depressive episode (MDE) in a selected sample from a healthy population. Participants answered the BDI‐II and the HADS questionnaires and were interviewed with MADRS. The Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)‐IV Axis I Disorders‐Clinician Version (SCID‐CV) was used to diagnose MDE. Current MDE was diagnosed in 20 (6%) of the 357 participants. All three scales including the depression sub‐scale for HADS had high area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) (AUC) (0.84–0.87), and internal consistency was also high for all scales (0.75–0.89). Optimal cut‐off for MDE was ≥ 12 for BDI‐II, MADRS ≥ 8, HADS total ≥ 9, and HADS‐D ≥ 4, which all resulted in sensitivities = 85% and specificities > 78%. Diagnostic accuracy was low on all depression scales (Cohen's kappa = 0.20–0.40). Reports of the properties of depression scales in a healthy population are limited. We found BDI‐II, HADS and MADRS to be acceptable as screening instruments for MDE in a selected sample from healthy population with recommend cut‐offs as mentioned above.</p> </abstract>