A SPANISH VERSION OF THE GERIATRIC DEPRESSION SCALE IN MEXICAN-AMERICAN ELDERS

Objective. The purpose of this study was to establish the sensitivity of a Spanish translation of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GD S-S) in a sample of 41 elderly Mexican-American psychiatric patients w ith a diagnosis of depressive disorders. Method. Utilizing the reverse translation technique and bilingual Mexican-American psychiatrists as evaluators, patients with DSM-III-R diagnoses of affective disorder w ho were sequential admissions to an inpatient psychiatric unit were en rolled in the study. The GDS-S was administered by trained interviewer s within 2-4 weeks of admission to 28 patients with major depressive d isorder (MDD) and 13 patients with other depressive disorders (ODD). N o other screening instruments for depressive symptoms were used. Resul ts. Using the original cut-scores of GDS, the sensitivity was 39% in p atients with MDD and 77% in patients with ODD. When a revised cut-scor e of 4 and above was identified as reflective of depressive symptoms, the sensitivity improved to 75% for patients with MDD and 85% for pati ents with ODD. Because there were no true negatives, specificity was n ot determined. Conclusions. The GDS-S may have limited value in screen ing community-resident Mexican-American elders for depressive symptoms unless they have significant medical problems which limit their funct ion and are associated with a dysthymic disorder. Screening instrument s for depression which include neurovegetative or somatic items may be a better choice in this population.