Reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the depressive cognition scale among the older people

Abstract

Objective To test the reliability and validity of the Chinese Version of the Depressive Cognition Scale (DCS) among the older people. Methods The sample consisted of 570 old people, collected by a demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of DCS, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), then all the data was analyzed by SPSS 21.0. Results The item-to-total correlation coefficients of DCS ranged from 0.65 to 0.84 (P<0.01), and the average coefficient was 0.77. The content validity index(CVI) was 0.88.The result of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was that one factor explained 59.72% of the total variances, and the concurrent validity between DCS and CES-D was positive related (r=0.24-0.82, P<0.01). Regarding CES-D as the gold standard, the sensitivity was 84.7% and the specificity was 90.7%.The inter-item correlation coefficients of DCS ranged from 0.40 to 0.73 (P<0.01); the Cronbach α was 0.82, and the retest reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient, ICC) was 0.92 (95%CI=0.86-0.95, P<0.01). Conclusion DCS is proved to be a reliable and valid instrument, and it can be used to assess the depressive cognition and screen the early depressive symptoms of Chinese old adults. Key words: Depression; Cognition; Scale; Reliability; Validity