J of IMAB. 2012; 18(3):305-307
THE VALIDITY OF THE HAMILTON DEPRESSION RATING SCALE AS A SCREENING AND DIAGNOSTIC INSTRUMENT FOR DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY
Koraliya S. Todorova¹, Valentina S. Velikova²
1) First Clinic of Psychiatry, MHAT “Sveta Marina” - Varna, Bulgaria
2) Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University - Varna, Bulgaria.

ABSTRACT:
Aim: To evaluate the concurrent validity of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) against ICD-10 criteria for depressive disorder and its performance as a screening and diagnostic tool for depression in patients with epilepsy (PWE).
Subjects and Methods: One hundred and six PWE underwent clinical psychiatric examination followed by evaluation on HAMD-17. ICD-10 criteria for comorbid depressive disorder were applied. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s α. A “receiver operating characteristics” (ROC)  curve was obtained and the sensitivity, specificity, positive  and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) were calculated for different cut-off points of the HAMD-17.
Results: Internal consistency measured by Cronbach’s α was 0.74. Maximal discrimination between depressed and non depressed was obtained at a cut-off score of 8/9 (sensitivity 0.93, specificity 0.98). High sensitivity and NPV at the same cut-off score (sensitivity 0.93,  NPV 1.0) show the screening properties, and  high specificity and PPV  at cut-offs  9/10, the diagnostic properties of the  instrument. The area under the ROC curve (AUC=0.746) indicates the concurrent validity of the HAMD-17 score with the ICD-10 criteria for depressive disorder.
Conclusion:  The validity of the HAMD-17 against ICD-10 criteria for depressive disorder in PWE in our study is fair. The concurrent administration of diagnostic criteria can ascertain the presence of core symptoms of depression.

Key words: Psychometric properties, HAMD-17, Epilepsy.

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Please cite this article as:Todorova KS, Velikova VS. The validity of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale as a screening and diagnostic instrument for depression in patients with epilepsy. J of IMAB. 2012; 18(3):305-307. doi: 10.5272/jimab.2012183.305.

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