Examination of the Hamilton scales in assessment of anxious older adults: A replication and extension

This study examined the original and reconstructed Hamilton scales in the a ssessment of anxiety and depression in a sample of older adults diagnosed w ith GAD (n = 82). Internal consistency of all scales appeared adequate. Res ults indicated improved construct validity with the reconstructed scales, w hich demonstrated reduced shared variance. However, construct validity exam ined through intercorrelations of the Hamilton scales with self-report meas ures of anxiety and depression was generally poor. Discriminant function an alysis indicated that the reconstructed scales might have some clinical uti lity in differentiation of patients with and without coexistent depressive diagnosis (67% correct classification). In addition, two items from the Ham ilton rating scale for depression (Work and Activities; Hopelessness) corre ctly classified patients with and without depression at a similar level as the Hamilton scale total scores (64-65% correct classification). These resu lts suggest that the Work and Activities, and Hopelessness items may provid e clinicians with useful screening questions for depression in anxious olde r adults.