Table 2.
BDI | HADS | PHQ-9 | CES-D | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Self-administered | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Assesses | Clinical symptoms of melancholia Intrusive thoughts | Anxiety Depression | Depressive symptoms present in the last 2 weeks | Depressive symptoms present in the last week |
Cut-off points | 0-13: minimum depression 14-19: mild depression 20-28: moderate depression 29-63: severe depression |
The score range is 0-21 for each subscale, and 0-42 for the overall score. A score of ≥ 11 in a subscale suggests that there might be a clinical problem | The range of scores is 0-27 and each item ranges from 0 (never) to 3 (more than half the days) | Major depressive episode: anhedonia or dysphoria nearly every day for the past 2 weeks, plus symptoms in an additional 4 DSM symptom groups noted as occurring nearly every day for the past 2 weeks |
Advantages | Has the highest percentage of cognitive symptoms present, emphasizing the absence of motor symptoms and anxiety | Suppression of somatic symptoms: depression can be evaluated independently of the underlying somatic disease | A short version has been proposed using two screening questions for the detection of major depressive disorders in the context of MS and primary care (PHQ-2) corresponding to depressed mood (“during the last 2 weeks, have you felt down, depressed, or hopeless?“) and anhedonia (“have you felt little interest or pleasure in doing things for the past 2 weeks?“) | Very brief scale, no trained staff is needed |
Validated in MS? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Scores on the depression subscale ≥ 8 have shown a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 82.2% | Scores ≥ 10 have shown a sensitivity of 95% and a specificity of 85.9% | Scores ≥ 16 have shown a sensitivity of 94.7% and a specificity of 73.1% |
BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; PHQ-9, Patient Health Questionnaire, CES-D, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Rating Scale.