Objective: To test the accuracy of five practical depression screening strategies in older adults residing in residential care/assisted living (RC/AL).
Design: Cross-sectional screening study.
Setting: Four RC/AL communities in North Carolina.
Participants: A total of 112 residents aged > or =65 and 27 staff members involved in their care.
Measurements: Direct care staff was trained in and completed the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, modified for use by long-term care staff (CSDD-M-LTCS). They additionally responded to a one-item question "Do you believe the resident is often sad or depressed?" and the Minimum Data Set Depression Rating Scale (DRS). Residents responded directly to the Geriatric Depression Scale (15-item version; GDS-15) and the Patient Health Questionnaire, 2-item version (PHQ-2). A geriatric psychiatrist performed gold standard diagnostic interviews using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. Sensitivities and specificities were calculated for all instruments at predetermined cutpoints.
Results: Gold standard diagnoses yielded 14% prevalence of major or minor depression. The CSDD-M-LTCS and one-item screen completed by caregivers failed to significantly discriminate depressed cases. The DRS yielded high specificity (0.85) but low sensitivity (0.47). For the two resident reported measures, the PHQ-2 had a sensitivity of 0.80 and specificity of 0.71, and the GDS-15, 0.60 and 0.75, respectively.
Conclusion: Measures completed by caregivers failed to adequately detect depression. Of the measures completed directly by residents, the PHQ-2 seems to have the best mix of brevity, sensitivity, and ease of administration.