A comparison of face-to-face and videoconference administration of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.

To determine whether the mode of administration affected the psychometric properties of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD), 21 subjects with an affective disorder were administered two HAMD interviews on the same day, once via videoconference (at 384 kbit/s) and once face-to-face, by two independent interviewers. The interviewers were blind to the results of the other interview. The mean HAMD scores were almost identical (18.4 for videoconferencing and 18.2 for face to face). The intra-class correlation between the two sets of scores was 0.88. When another group of 21 subjects had the HAMD administered in two face-to-face interviews on the same day, the inter-rater reliability was not significantly different from that for the videoconference cohort. Most patients (91%) thought videoconferencing was a useful way to receive a psychological evaluation when other means were unavailable or limited. The study shows the psychometric equivalence of remote and face-to-face HAMD administration.