Factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) with Puerto Rican elderly

The Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II; (1) is one of the most useful measures for depressive symptomatology in many countries (2). The psychometric properties of this inventory, however, have not been reported with Puerto Rican elderly. This paper reports, exploratory psychometric results with a sample of 410 elderly Puerto Rican (65 years and older; men=94, women=316). The assessment of the construct validity of the BDI-II yielded four factors accounting for 52of total variance and an internal reliability coefficient (alpha Cronbach) of .89. A factor analysis with the 21 items of the BDI-II was performed using principal component analysis as the extraction method and Varimax rotation. This analysis revealed that the BDI-II was a good measure of the dimensions of depressive symptomatology in the present sample, which resembled prior findings reported with the general Puerto Rican Population (3). This study also reports further data supporting the reliability, validity, and practical utility of the BDI-II for the Puerto Rican population including elders. Implications for potential research with minorities and clinical uses of the BDI-II are also discussed.

Receptor estrogénico y actividad semejante a tripsina en cáncer de mama / Strogenic receptor and activity like tripsine in breast cancer

Se estudiaron 126 carcinomas primarios de glándula mamaria. Se investigó la presencia de receptor estrogénico (RE) por medio del método de carbón cubierto con Dextrán y se determinó la actividad semejante a tripsina (AST) con el Método de espectrofluorometría. Las muestras grado de diferenciación II con RE+ fueron 76% y la media fue 218+-91fmoles/mg de proteina, en tanto que en los casos grado de diferenciación III el porcentaje de muestras RE+fué 60% con una media de 30+-6fmoles/mg de proteina