Measuring depression at the end of life: is the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale a valid instrument? Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • Depression at the end of life is a common mental health issue with serious implications for quality of life and decision making. This study investigated the reliability and validity of one of the most frequently used measures of depression, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) in 422 patients with terminal cancer admitted to a palliative care hospital. The HAM-D demonstrated high reliability and concurrent validity with depression diagnosis, based on Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders, non-patient research version (SCID-I/NP Depression Module). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses generated an area under the curve of .91, indicating high sensitivity and specificity. The HAM-D strongly correlated with several measures of distress (e.g., hopelessness, desire for hastened death, and suicidal ideation). Factor analysis generated 4 factors (anxiety, depressed mood, insomnia, and somatic symptoms), accounting for 42% of the variance. Implications for assessing depression in this population are discussed.

publication date

  • August 1, 2008

Research

keywords

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Attitude to Death
  • Depression
  • Neoplasms
  • Terminally Ill

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC3987780

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 58849140115

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1177/1073191108320415

PubMed ID

  • 18676960

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 16

issue

  • 1