Abstract
This study examined the validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) in a sample of 69 elderly medical inpatients and outpatients from Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital, San Antonio, Texas. Standard or conventional cutoff scores were examined, and new cutoff scores were developed for the BDI, CES-D, BDI psychological subscale, and CES-D depressed affect subscale. The number of correct decisions produced by new cutoffs were not significantly different from standard cutoffs; however, it was recommended that higher cutoff scores be used with an elderly medical population. Individual items were also examined, and psychological items were found to be superior to somatic items in discriminating depressed from non-depressed subjects. Some somatic items, including inability to work, weight loss, and sexual interest, were found to be the poorest discriminators. Age differences were also examined for both measures and all subscales. Significant nonlinear effects for age were found for the CES-D, the CES-D depressed affect subscale, and the CES-D interpersonal subscale. No age effects were found for the BDI.
Woehr, Michelle Denise (1994). Investigation of the validity of two depression measures in an elderly medical population. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1554993.