Résumé
OBJECTIVES: The authors attempted to evaluate the diagnostic validity of the Korean version, Geri-atric Depression Scale(GDS) for screening geriatric DSM-III-R major depression among clinical pop-ulations. METHODS: Through of preliminary trials 3 times, the authors translated GDS including Short form Geriatric Depression Scale(SGDS) into Korean. GDS, SGDS, HRS-D, CES-D was adminis-tered to 88 elderly psychiatric patients(35 major depressives, 51 were non-major depression) and also Diagnostic Interview Schedule(DIS-III-R) was administered independently to diagnoses DSM-III-R major depression. Reliability and validity test 5, optimal cut-off point estimation, and ROC curve analysis were done to investigate the diagnostic validity of GDS and SGDS. RESULTS: Internal consistency-reliability and concurrent validity of GDS, SGDS associated with other depression scales(HRS-D, CES-D) were excellent. Content validity and discriminant validity which differentiate DSM-III-R major depression from non-major depression was also good. The authors suggest the score '17' as the optimal cut-off point of GDS for screening DSM-III-R major depression among clinical populations and the score '8' as optimal cut-off score of SGDS. ROC curve analysis revealed wide AUC of both GDS and SGDS, which indicates its high diagnostic validity in assessing DSM-III-R major depression. The GDS and SGDS were found to be highly correlated(r=0.9594) and any difference of AUC between both scales in ROC curve analysis were not found. This finding suggests that SGDS can be an adequate substitute for GDS. CONCLUSION: The GDS and SGDS are valid and reliable case finding tools for screening DSM-III-R major depression among clinical populations in Korea but relatively high cut-off point demands the further evaluation in the viewpoint of culturally determined style of response for the depression questionnaire in Korea.