OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics between geriatric
depression scale (GDS), Hamilton
depression rating scale (HDRS) and post-
stroke depression scale (PSDS) in the aspect of
diagnosis and severity assessment for post-
stroke depression .
METHOD: 45 post-
stroke patients were included for this study. Subjects were classified through
DSM-IV criteria into three different groups;
depression -free,
minor depression and major
depression . GDS, HDRS, PSDS were also assessed in all subjects simultaneously. Three
depression assessment
scales were compared between groups based on
DSM-IV criteria, and the
sensitivity and specificity using cut-off value were analyzed.
RESULTS: All
scales showed the significant differences between
depression group and
depression -free group. GDS showed higher
sensitivity and specificity than HDRS and PSDS and GDS showed the significant difference between
minor depression and no
depression group, but other
scales did not. HDRS and PSDS in major
depression group showed the significant differences compared with
minor depression group (p<0.05), but GDS did not.
CONCLUSION: GDS may be more useful to identify the presence of
depression compared to GDRS and PSDS. However, to
measure the severity of
depression , HDRS and PSDS may be more useful than GDS.