William H Rogers1, David A Adler, Kathleen M Bungay, Ira B Wilson. 1. The Health Institute, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts-New England Medical Center (T-NEMC), 750 Washington Street, Box 345, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Test equivalence of different survey instruments to diagnose depression and to assess its severity. Where equivalence exists, describe how to convert scores between instruments. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of six convenience samples consisting of 71 members of a health plan and 107 patients of mental health specialty practices with psychiatric diagnoses were compared using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and one or more of the Primary Care Screener for Affective Disorder, Prime-MD-PHQ, Inventory to Diagnose Depression, the depression subscale of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, and the Mental Health Inventory from the SF-36. RESULTS: Correlations between the screening instruments and the BDI ranged from 0.79 to 0.95 and the sensitivity to depression and the specificity against nondepressive mental health diagnoses was equally good or better. We also describe a method for equating severity scores across instruments and labeling the screener-based severity measures with clinically meaningful descriptions comparable to those used for the BDI. CONCLUSIONS: Screener-based severity measures extensively overlap each other. Good screeners for depression can also be good severity instruments. Exploiting screeners as severity instruments can significantly reduce response burden without sacrificing performance.
OBJECTIVE: Test equivalence of different survey instruments to diagnose depression and to assess its severity. Where equivalence exists, describe how to convert scores between instruments. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of six convenience samples consisting of 71 members of a health plan and 107 patients of mental health specialty practices with psychiatric diagnoses were compared using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and one or more of the Primary Care Screener for Affective Disorder, Prime-MD-PHQ, Inventory to Diagnose Depression, the depression subscale of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, and the Mental Health Inventory from the SF-36. RESULTS: Correlations between the screening instruments and the BDI ranged from 0.79 to 0.95 and the sensitivity to depression and the specificity against nondepressive mental health diagnoses was equally good or better. We also describe a method for equating severity scores across instruments and labeling the screener-based severity measures with clinically meaningful descriptions comparable to those used for the BDI. CONCLUSIONS: Screener-based severity measures extensively overlap each other. Good screeners for depression can also be good severity instruments. Exploiting screeners as severity instruments can significantly reduce response burden without sacrificing performance.
Authors: C Moura; S Bernatsky; M Abrahamowicz; A Papaioannou; L Bessette; J Adachi; D Goltzman; J Prior; N Kreiger; T Towheed; W D Leslie; S Kaiser; G Ioannidis; L Pickard; L-A Fraser; E Rahme Journal: Osteoporos Int Date: 2014-02-25 Impact factor: 4.507
Authors: P K Crane; L E Gibbons; J H Willig; M J Mugavero; S T Lawrence; J E Schumacher; M S Saag; M M Kitahata; H M Crane Journal: AIDS Care Date: 2010-07
Authors: Heather E Whitson; Linda Sanders; Carl F Pieper; Deborah T Gold; Alexandra Papaioannou; J Brent Richards; Jonathan D Adachi; Kenneth W Lyles Journal: Aging Clin Exp Res Date: 2008-12 Impact factor: 3.636
Authors: Ira B Wilson; Michael Barton Laws; Steven A Safren; Yoojin Lee; Minyi Lu; William Coady; Paul R Skolnik; William H Rogers Journal: J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Date: 2010-03 Impact factor: 3.731
Authors: Angelo Picardi; D A Adler; W H Rogers; I Lega; M P Zerella; G Matteucci; L Tarsitani; M Caredda; A Gigantesco; M Biondi Journal: Clin Pract Epidemiol Ment Health Date: 2013-10-04