MEASUREMENT OF DEPRESSION IN MEXICAN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - VALIDITY OF THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY

Objective. To validate a Spanish version of the Beck Depression Invent ory (BDI) in Mexican patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods. Thirty-five patients with RA seen in our outpatient clinic were inclu ded. A semistructured psychiatric interview was applied, and the follo wing instruments were administered: the BDI, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD), and the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disabi lity Index. Diagnostic properties of the BDI for both full-length and smaller versions taking out somatic items were compared against a gold standard. The gold standard for comparison was the diagnosis of depre ssion according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Dis orders, Third Edition, Revised criteria. Results. Thirty-seven percent of RA patients had a diagnosis related to depression, most of which w ere major depression or dysthymia. The original BDI showed a high sens itivity (92 %) and a high correlation with the HAD (r = 0.83). Exclusi on of somatic items in modified versions of the BDI had a similar perf ormance. Conclusions. The original BDI is a suitable instrument to det ect depression in Mexican RA patients. Nevertheless, shorter versions without some of the somatic items also show an adequate performance.