Measuring depression in Canada's elderly Chinese population: Use of a community screening instrument

Objective: To assess the reliability and validity of a 15-item Chinese Geri atric Depression Scale (GDS) to measure depression in Canada's elderly Chin ese population. Method: A random sample of 96 elderly Chinese in a Canadian city was survey ed by telephone. The measure of depression used was the 15-item Chinese ver sion of the GDS. In addition, the physical and mental health of the respond ents was assessed by a Chinese version of the SF-12, questions on self-perc eived general health, and questions on self-reported illnesses and health c oncerns. Results: The prevalence rate of depression in the elderly Chinese who parti cipated in this study is approximately 20%, which is much lower than that o f elderly Chinese in the United States (US). Cronbach's alpha and split-hal f reliability coefficients were 0.88 and 0.89 respectively. GDS scores are significantly correlated with the mental health component (r = -0.74) of th e SF-12, indicating a strong convergent validity. GDS scores are also corre lated with the physical health component of the SF-12 (r = -0.41), self-per ceived general health (r = -0.26), and illnesses (r = 0.52), demonstrating concurrent validity. Conclusions: The 15-item Chinese GDS has good internal consistency and both convergent and concurrent validity. It can help to identify depression amo ng the elderly Chinese, allowing early identification and prevention of thi s problem. Further research is required to support its use in clinical sett ings.