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In a study of 45 consecutive new outpatients at geriatric medicine clinics, 17.8% were diagnosed as depressed and 2.2% as anxious using the Geriatric Mental Status Schedule. Of two screening instruments, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), in either 30-item or 15-item version, performed well and the depression sub-scale of Goldberg and Bridges' screening questionnaire for depression and anxiety in medical settings was adequate. The anxiety sub-scale of the latter was poor. Detection by geriatricians of depression and anxiety disorders was poor. It is recommended that a short screening instrument for the detection of depression, such as the GDS, be incorporated into the clinic setting. As yet there is no satisfactory screening questionnaire for detecting anxiety disorders.
NEAL et al. (Sat,) studied this question.