Psychometric properties and modification of the 15-item geriatric depression scale among Chinese oldest-old and centenarians: a mixed-methods study

BMC Geriatrics

Yali Zhao¹  Yao Yao²  Chi Zhang³  Deping Liu³  Chen Chen⁴  Hao Zhang⁵  Minghao Zhao⁶  Zhongquan Li⁷ 

[1] Central Laboratory, Hainan Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Sanya, Hainan, China;China Center for Health Development Studies, Peking University, Haidian District, Beijing, China;Department of Education, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China;Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China;Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, Ithaca, NY, USA;School of Basic Medicine, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China;School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China;

关键词: 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale;    Oldest-old;    Centenarians;    Validity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12877-022-02833-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) shows good performance in detecting depression among older persons, but its applicability has not been well studied in non-Western oldest-old adults and centenarians. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric property of the GDS-15 and a simplified version among a large representative longevous population in China.MethodsA total of 1624 individuals (786 oldest-old persons aged from 80 to 99 years; 838 centenarians aged 100+ years) participated in this study. Home interviews with structured questionnaires were conducted to collect sociodemographic data. Depressive symptoms were measured using the Chinese GDS-15 version. We implemented mixed methods for the psychometric evaluation of the GDS-15. Cronbach’s α coefficient and item-total correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the internal consistency. A standard expert consultation was conducted to test the content validity of each item. Multiple factor analyses were used to explore the optimal factor structure and measurement invariance.ResultsThe α coefficient of the GDS-15 was 0.745, while two items impaired the overall consistency reliability. Nineteen experts rated the applicability for each item and provided removal suggestion. Five items with less validity were removed, and a simplified 10-item GDS model with three-factor structure was proposed as an optimal solution. The GDS-10 model showed factorial equivalence across age, sex, residence, and education in multi-group confirmatory factor analyses.ConclusionsThe original GDS-15 has acceptable internal reliability, known-group validity, and concurrent validity among Chinese community-dwelling oldest-old and centenarians; however we provided preliminary evidence indicating that individual items related to somatic function or social activities may not be applicable for this population. The modified GDS-10 can be proposed as a potentially more practical and comprehensible instrument for depression screening.

【 授权许可】

CC BY