ASSESSING DEPRESSION AMONG PERSONS WITH CHRONIC PAIN USING THE CENTERFOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE AND THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY - A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS
Me. Geisser et al., ASSESSING DEPRESSION AMONG PERSONS WITH CHRONIC PAIN USING THE CENTERFOR EPIDEMIOLOGIC STUDIES DEPRESSION SCALE AND THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY - A COMPARATIVE-ANALYSIS, The Clinical journal of pain, 13(2), 1997, pp. 163-170
Objective: This study examined the ability of two self-report question
naires, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Center for Epidemi
ological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), to discriminate between chr
onic pain patients with and without major depression. Since previous r
esearch has suggested that medical conditions such as chronic pain can
influence the endorsement of items that measure neurovegetative sympt
oms of depression, the accuracy of each of these questionnaires was al
so assessed eliminating these items. Subjects: These included 132 cons
ecutive patients with chronic pain, 44 of whom were diagnosed as suffe
ring from major depression according to DSM-IV criteria. Methods: Pati
ents were administered a battery of questionnaires that included the C
ES-D and BDI. They were also interviewed by a clinical psychologist to
determine the presence or absence of major depression. Results: Both
questionnaires were able to discriminate significantly between persons
with and without major depression. Removal of the somatic items on ea
ch questionnaire did not improve their accuracy. Discriminant function
analysis revealed an optimal cut-off score of 21 for the BDI, and 27
for the CES-D. Overall hit rates at these cut-offs for the two questio
nnaires were comparable, while the CES-D had somewhat better sensitivi
ty (81.8% vs. 68.2%). Conversely, the BDI had slightly better specific
ity (78.4% vs. 72.7%). Conclusion: The results suggest that both quest
ionnaires have good predictive validity among chronic pain patients, a
nd decisions regarding the use of one questionnaire rather than the ot
her may depend upon the goals of the user and the setting within which
the questionnaire is used.