SCREENING FOR DEPRESSION IN LOW-VISION ELDERLY

Objective. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the Geriatr ic Depression Scale (GDS) in older low-vision patients, and to compare GDS scores with the diagnosis of major depression in statistical mode ls examining the interrelationships of vision, depression and disabili ty. Design. Cross-sectional survey. Participants, Community-residing o lder persons attending the low-vision clinic of Wills Eye Hospital, Ph iladelphia, PA, USA. Measurements. Geriatric Depression Scale, DSM-III -R Checklist for Depression, Community Disability Scale and Snellen Vi sual Acuity. Results, The sensitivity and specificity of the GDS (GDS = 11) were 63% and 77%, respectively. A receiver operating characteris tic curve showed that the GDS's ability to discriminate patients with and without major depression was no better than chance. Although the G DS was limited as a screen for major depression, it was useful in stat istical models examining the interrelationships of vision, depression and disability. Conclusion. Depressive symptoms are common among elder ly patients with impaired vision attending a low-vision clinic. Althou gh the GDS is unable to discriminate patients with and without major d epression in this population, it is valuable as a continuous measure o f depressive symptomatology to examine the interrelationships of visio n, depression and disability. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.