VALIDATION OF THE HOSPITAL ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCALE AS A MEASURE OF SEVERITY OF GERIATRIC DEPRESSION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Hospital Anxiety and Dep ression Scale (HAD) as a measure of severity of geriatric depression. One hundred and one elderly patients with DSM-III-R non-psychotic non- bipolar major depression were rated by the interviewing psychiatrist o n the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and the Montgomery-A sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at index assessment and at the c ompletion of treatment. In a blind fashion, patients completed the HAD at the same time points. At initial assessment, correlations between the depression subscale of the HAD (HAD-D) and the HRSD and MADRS were 0.51 (p<0.001) and 0.54 (p<0.001) respectively, and at final assessme nt the correlations were 0.73 (<0.001) and 0.79 (p<0.001) respectively . The HAD-D was also sensitive to change in the severity of depression (r(S) = 0.58, p<0.001). These correlations were not of sufficient mag nitude for the HAD-D to be used as an alternative to the HRSD or MADRS . However, in certain circumstances, the HAD-D may be a useful adjunct to these observer-rated scales.