Depression measures in outcomes research.

Abstract

To review critically the measures used to screen for depression for disability outcomes research and to recommend measures and needed research. Review of literature pertaining to the development, testing, and use of depression measures for outcomes research. English language literature from scientists from a broad range of disciplines and research settings, focusing mainly on the Brief Symptom Inventory and the Center for Epidemiology Study-Depression scale. A literature review was completed through MEDLINE. Based on the review, instruments were selected according to their use among people with disability and the reliability and validity of the instrument. Two instruments were selected for a complete review, and 5 instruments were selected for a brief review. A critical review of measures that have been and may be used to measure depressive symptomatology among people with disability. Screening measures of depression are easy to administer and score. Almost all have low respondent burden and good face validity, thereby contributing to a high participation rate for most studies. Some problems exist with the application of these instruments to people with disability (ie, overlap of symptoms of depression and indicators of physical impairment).