The Romanian version of the Geriatric Depression Scale: Reliability and validity

Written by Adina Maria Ștefan, Adriana Băban on 20 September 2017. Posted in Volume XXI, Nr 3

Authors

Adina Maria Ștefan*, Adriana Băban

Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a psychometric instrument specially designed for identifying depression in elderly. Most experts in the field consider it to be the best instrument for screening depression in old age and it has been widely used for this population. The scale’s validity and reliability were confirmed in both research and clinical settings. The present paper aimed to report the results regarding the adaptation and validation analyses of the GDS for the Romanian population. The study was conducted on a sample of 172 elderly from the community and from residential facilities. Internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct and criterion validity were analyzed for the 30-item version of the scale, as well as for the 15-item version. Results regarding the sensitivity and specificity of the two variants are also presented and optimal cut-off points are discussed. Findings indicate good psychometric properties of both GDS versions for the Romanian population.

Keywords: depression, elderly, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), reliability, validity

PAGES: 175-187

doi:10.24193/cbb.2017.21.10

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