Use of the 5-Item Geriatric Depression Scale in Demented Individuals and with Psychiatric Outpatients

Abstract

The effectiveness of the new 5-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was assessed using archival data from 143 (71% women) discharged depressed psychiatric patients and 167 (51% women) demented individuals in the early stages of dementia of the Alzheimer type. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves analyses using a cut score of 2 indicated that the 5-item GDS is appropriate for use with both men and women after hospitalization for severe depression (area under the curve = .89 for the total sample). It is less useful with demented individuals (area under the curve = .68 for total sample).