A COMPARISON OF 2 DEPRESSION SCALES IN A GERIATRIC ASSESSMENT CLINIC

Two commonly used geriatric depression rating scales are the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dement ia (CS). The GDS is a self-rating scale used to identify depressed old er adults, whereas the CS is used to assess severity of depression bas ed on a clinical interview. Because the scales may thus be complementa ry, their use was examined in 182 patients undergoing an outpatient ge riatric assessment. Geriatric psychiatrists, blind to the results of t he GDS, completed the CS and assigned clinical diagnoses. Both scales distinguished depressed from nondepressed individuals by means of ROC- generated cutoff scores relative to a clinical diagnosis of depression . The scores on the depression scales were not affected by cognitive s tatus as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination. The mean GDS s cores did not vary by geriatric psychiatrist. The mean CS scores, howe ver, did significantly differ across psychiatrists despite the fact th at the psychiatrists were not blind to patients' clinical diagnosis.