The Cantonese-translated Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale demonstrated 80% sensitivity and 90% specificity for detecting psychological illnesses in Chinese elderly at optimal cut-offs.
Cross-Sectional (n=298)
No
Does the Cantonese-translated Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale accurately detect psychological problems in Chinese elderly aged 60 or above?
The Cantonese-translated HAD Scale is a valid and feasible screening tool for detecting anxiety and depression in Chinese elderly patients in general practice.
A study was carried out in a general practice in Hong Kong to find out if the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale could be used to detect psychological problems in Chinese elderly. The HAD Scale was translated into Cantonese and administered by an interviewer to 298 Chinese aged 60 or above before their doctor consultations. The acceptance rate of the Scale was 96% and each interview took only 5-10 min to complete. All 298 elderly understood and completed the HAD Scale. Validation of the results of the HAD Scale by the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) was done on a random sample of 100 elderly. Relative operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the optimal cut-off points of the HAD Scale was a depression score of 6 and an anxiety score of 3. The sensitivity was 80%, specificity was 90%, OMR (overall misclassification rate) was 12%, positive predictive value was 67% and negative predictive value was 95%. Thirty-six per cent of the elderly had scores above these cut-off points. More females than males had high anxiety scores. Nearly half of those with positive HAD scores were not known to have any psychological illness. The HAD Scale has great potential to be used as a screening instrument for psychological illnesses in Cantonese-speaking Chinese elderly all over the world.
Lam et al. (Sun,) conducted a cross-sectional in Psychological problems (anxiety and depression) (n=298). Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale vs. Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS) was evaluated on Sensitivity and specificity of the HAD Scale for detecting psychological problems. The Cantonese-translated Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale demonstrated 80% sensitivity and 90% specificity for detecting psychological illnesses in Chinese elderly at optimal cut-offs.