Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS): a valid tool to screen for depression in older primary care patients in Brazil

• Author(s): Castelo,Milena Sampaio ; Filho,João Macêdo Coelho ; Neto,José Ibiapina Siqueira ; Noleto,Jamile Coelho Soares ; Lima,José Wellington de Oliveira
• Date: 2007
• Origin: Oasisbr
• Subject(s): geriatric patients, depression, GDS, primary care.
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

OBJECTIVE: To assess the validity of the geriatric depression scale (GDS) (4-item short form - GDS-4) to screen for depression in elderly primary care patients in Brazil.
METHODS: Cross-sectional study among 220 patients aged 60 or over attending 4 primary care clinics in Fortaleza city, Brazil. Those unable to answer the questionnaire because of impairments in communication skills were excluded. All included patients after completing the GDS form were submitted to the structured clinical interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM IV) which was used as gold-standard to establish the diagnosis of major depressive disorder. The outcomes were sensitivity; specificity; positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values; accuracy and likelihood ratio (LR) of a short version of the GDS (GDS-4).
RESULTS: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and LR of the GDS-30 were respectivelly 84,2% (68,1 - 93,4 = 95% CI), 74,7% (67,7 - 80,7 = 95% CI), 41% (30,2 - 52,7% = 95% CI) e 95,8% (90,6 - 98,3 = 95% CI). The accuracy and LR were respectivelly 3,9% and 76,3%.
CONCLUSIONS: GDS is a useful tool in helping clinicians to screen for major depression in older primary care patients. The 4-item short-form (GDS-4) may be an alternative and more practicable screening tool to be routinelly used in primary care.