Screening for depressive symptoms among the elderly in Israel. A reliability and validity study
Auslander, G.K.; Levav, I.; Nachmani, N.
Israel Journal of Medical Sciences 24(1): 32-37
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-2180 PMID: 3346147 Document Number: 315042
The Hadassah Elderly Depression Screening Scale (HEDSS).sbd.a modified version of Zung's Self Rating Depression Scale and Beck's Depression Index.sbd.was developed for use among the elderly in Israel. In a sample of 183 elderly residents of Jerusalem, the scale proved to be highly reliable and able to differentiate between persons diagnosed as depressed and those defined as healthy. Moreover, it was found to be valid among subpopulations grouped by sex, education and ethnicity. Various cutoff points were tested for targeting screening at specific populations.