DEPRESSION SCALE
This diagnostic aid was specifically developed to assist in the better
recognition of depression. It consists of a small set of screening questions to
establish the presence of depression, followed by a set of probe questions
which only need to be posed if the patient answers "yes" to any of
the first set. The development and validity of this methodology was described
in a paper by Dr. D. Goldberg and colleagues. (1) They
discovered that over 80% of patients with known depressive disorders had high
scores on this depression rating scale. Of equal importance was that few cases
of psychiatric illness were missed by the new scale. The authors concluded that
this short scale could now be used in clinical setting. It was also
demonstrated that results of diagnosis using this method were comparable to
those of more time-consuming methods.
Screening questions
Score one point for each "yes" given to each of the following
questions:
- Have you had low energy?
- Have you had loss of interest?
- Have you lost confidence in yourself?
- Have you felt hopeless?
If the answer to any of these above questions is "yes", go on to
ask the following:
- Have you had difficulty concentrating?
- Have you lost weight (due to poor appetite)?
- Have you been waking early?
- Have you felt slowed up?
- Have you tended to feel worse in the mornings?
Now add up the depression score. Patients who score two have a 50% chance of
having a clinically important disturbance. Scores higher than four suggest a
sharply increased probability of disturbances.
Reference
1. Goldberg D, et al. Brit Med.1 1988;
297: 897-899
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