Montorio I, Izal M
Department of Biological and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
Int Psychogeriatr. 1996 Spring;8(1):103-12. doi: 10.1017/s1041610296002505.
This article reviews the significance of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) to practitioners and researchers in clinical gerontology, more than 10 years after the scale was introduced to the scientific community. This report summarizes findings from the most relevant validation studies in which this self-report for assessing depression in elderly people has been tested. Included is discussion of the use of the GDS with specific populations (elderly medical inpatients, nursing home residents, and dementia populations), with description of the scale's psychometric properties and its utility when used with them. This article also provides data on the use of the GDS from more recent studies, including additional information on psychometric properties, influence of source bias, and the international dissemination of the GDS. We conclude that the GDS is a relevant self-report for the assessment of depression in the elderly, given its advantage over other self-reports that are not as easily administered to this age group, its utility in the detection of depression, and its adequate psychometric properties. However, the GDS does not maintain its validity in demented populations because it fails to identify depression in persons with mild to moderate dementia. Finally, some suggestions for future research are made.
在老年抑郁量表（GDS）被引入科学界10多年后，本文回顾了该量表对临床老年医学领域的从业者和研究人员的重要性。本报告总结了最相关的效度研究结果，在这些研究中，这种用于评估老年人抑郁症的自评工具得到了测试。内容包括对GDS在特定人群（老年内科住院患者、养老院居民和痴呆症患者群体）中的使用情况的讨论，并描述了该量表的心理测量特性及其在这些人群中的效用。本文还提供了来自近期研究的关于GDS使用情况的数据，包括心理测量特性的更多信息、来源偏差的影响以及GDS的国际传播情况。我们得出结论，鉴于GDS相较于其他不易应用于该年龄组的自评工具具有优势、在抑郁症检测方面具有效用且具备适当的心理测量特性，它是评估老年人抑郁症的一种相关自评工具。然而，GDS在痴呆症患者群体中并不具备效度，因为它无法识别轻度至中度痴呆症患者的抑郁症。最后，提出了一些未来研究的建议。
