Table 1.
Overview of depression measures
| Measure | Original author/citation | Context of initial development and use | Composition | Time to administer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beck depression inventory (BDI) | Beck et al. [53]. Updated by Beck et al. [54] | Derived from clinical observations about the attitudes and symptoms displayed frequently by depressed psychiatric patients. Used widely in English-speaking populations | Self-administered or administered by trained interviewers. 21 symptoms of depression are rated from 0–3 in terms of intensity. Suggested cut-offs: minimal depression <10; mild to moderate depression 10–18; moderate to severe depression 19–29; severe depression 30–63 | 5–10 min |
| Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) | Radloff et al. [55]; revised by Eaton et al. [56] | Designed for epidemiological studies of depressive symptoms in the general population | Self-administered. Asks patients to identify current (this week) symptoms. 20 items, rated from 0 to 4 to indicate frequency of symptoms. Scored by summing ratings. Suggested cut-off: >16 | 10–20 min |
| Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) | WHO (1990). Updated by World Mental Health Survey [48] | Developed for use in low-cost, low-infrastructure settings | Self or interviewer administered yes/no items with 30 day recall period. 20 items. Suggested cut-off: 7/8. Algorithms for scoring provided only to trained administrators | 5 min |
| Depression and Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) | Lovibond and Lovibond [57] | Used to screen for depression, anxiety and stress in a community setting | 42 items or 21 item short form. Three 7 question sub-scales for depression, anxiety and stress. 4 possible responses varying from 0 (did not apply to me at all) to 3 (applied to me very much or most of the time). For depression sub-scale cutoffs = mild: 5–6, moderate: 7–10, severe: 11–13, extremely severe: >14 | 5–10 min |
| Four Measures of Mental Health (FMoMH) | Beiser and Fleming [58] | Developed in Canada for use with South Asian refugee populations | 50 items, 17 for depression, 16 for somatization, 13 for panic, and 4 for well-being. Study suggests cut-offs should vary by age and population | Not available |
| General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) | Goldberg [59] | Developed for use in primary care and non-clinical settings | Several versions: 60, 30, 28 and 12 items. GHQ-28 most frequently used. Four subscales: somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression. Scales not independent of one another. Items are scored from 0 to 3 using alternative binary scoring, with a score of >4 considered indicative of psychological distress for the GHQ-28 | 5 min |
| Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL)/Indochinese-HSCL | Parloff, Kelman, and Frank [60] revised 25-item version for use in primary care: Hesbacher et al. [61]. Indochinese version: Mollica et al. [62] | Originally developed as screening instrument for use in primary care and non-clinical settings. Was developed for use with Vietnamese refugees in the US | 25 questions: 10 on anxiety subscale and 15 on depression subscale. Separate scores for anxiety, depression and total. There are 4 response categories, rated from 1 to 4. Maximum scores of 4 with 1.75 in clinical range | Not available |
| Phan Vietnamese Psychiatric Scale (PVPS) | Phan, Steel, and Silove [40] | Developed in Australia for use in Vietnamese diaspora | 26 item depression subscale, a 13 item anxiety subscale, and a 14 item somatization subscale, with a total of 53 items. The depression scale includes two subscales: a 15 item affective subscale and an 11 item psycho-vegetative subscale. Items are scored from 1 to 3 based on frequency of occurrence. Cut-off for depression sub-scale = 1.85 | Not available |
| SRQ-20 | WHO [63] | Developed by WHO for use in low and middle income countries. Has been translated into many languages | Self or interviewer administered with 20 yes or no items with 30 day recall period. Yes responses are scored 1 and no responses are scored 0, with a maximum score of 20. Optimal cut-off considered to be 7/8 | 5–10 min |
| Vietnamese Depression Scale (VDS) | Kinzie [51] | Developed for use with Vietnamese refugees in the US | 15 items with maximum score of 34. 6 items are culturally specific for Vietnamese population. Uses 3- and 4-point Likert scales. Optimal cut-off = >13 | Not available |