Affiliations: Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
Gervasutta Hospital, Via Gervasutta, 48, 33100 Udine, Italy | Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience &
Movement Disorders, Institute of Neurology, The National Hospital for Neurology
& Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK | Department of Psychology, University of Trieste,
Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr Federica Mondolo, Istituto di Medicina
Fisica e Riabilitazione "Gervasutta", Via Gervasutta, 48 – 33100 Udine,
Italy. Tel.: +39 432 553341; Fax: +39 432 553340; E-mail:
federicamondolo@yahoo.it
Abstract: We assessed the concurrent validity of the Hospital Anxiety and
Depression Scale (HADS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) against the
Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D) in patients with Parkinson's
disease (PD). Forty-six non-demented PD patients were assessed by a neurologist
on the Ham-D. Patients also completed four mood rating scales: the HADS, the
GDS, the VAS and the Face Scale. For the HADS and the GDS, Receiver Operating
Characteristics (ROC) curves were obtained and the positive and negative
predictive values (PPV, NPV) were calculated for different cut-off scores.
Maximum discrimination between depressed and non-depressed PD patients was
reached at a cut-off score of 10/11 for both the HADS and the GDS. At the same
cut-off score of 10/11 for both the HADS and the GDS, the high sensitivity and
NPV make these scales appropriate screening instruments for depression in PD. A
high specificity and PPV, which is necessary for a diagnostic test, was reached
at a cut-off score of 12/13 for the GDS and at a cut-off score of 11/12 for the
HADS. The results indicate the validity of using the HADS and the GDS to screen
for depressive symptoms and to diagnose depressive illness in PD.
