Characteristic distribution of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) in US adults

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Yutaka Ono¹  Maiko Akutagawa²  Hiroshi Yamada²  Yohei Kawasaki³  Kazuki Ide⁴  Toshiaki A. Furukawa⁵  Shinichiro Tomitaka⁶ 

[1] Center for the Development of Cognitive Behavior Therapy Training, Shirogane-cho 1-13, Shinjuku-ku, 162-0816, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Drug Evaluation and Informatics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, 422-8526, Shizuoka, Japan;Department of Drug Evaluation and Informatics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, 422-8526, Shizuoka, Japan;Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan;Department of Drug Evaluation and Informatics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, 422-8526, Shizuoka, Japan;Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine and Public Health, Kyoto University, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan;Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan;Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine/School of Public Health, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan;Department of Mental Health, Panasonic Health Center, Landic building 3F, Nishishinbashi 3-8-3, Minato-ku, 105-0003, Tokyo, Japan;Department of Drug Evaluation and Informatics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, 52-1 Yada, Suruga-ku, 422-8526, Shizuoka, Japan;Department of Health Promotion and Human Behavior, Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine/School of Public Health, Yoshida Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, 606-8501, Kyoto, Japan;

关键词: Depressive symptom;    Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological distress;    Item response;    National Survey of midlife development;    Exponential distribution;    Depressive symptom measure;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-017-1449-1

 received in 2017-03-03, accepted in 2017-07-28,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe distributional pattern of total scores on depression screening scales in the general population has not been well studied. Recent studies suggest that the total scores on depression screening scales follow an exponential pattern, with the exception of the lower end of the distribution. To further investigate the findings, we determined the distributions of the total and individual item scores on the Kessler Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6).MethodsData were obtained from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States. Participants comprised 6,223 individuals between the ages of 25 and 74. The distributions of the total and individual item scores in various combinations were investigated with histograms and regression analysis.ResultsIrrespective of the combination of items, the total and individual item scores followed an exponential pattern except at the lower scores. The estimated rate parameters of regression analysis were similar among distributions with the same number of chosen items. At the lower scores, the distributional patterns of total scores varied according to the ratio of “a little” to “none” for each item response.ConclusionsThe present results have the potential to estimate the distribution of depressive symptoms in the general population. While the degree of depressive symptoms varies from individual to individual, an entire population may show a certain mathematical distribution.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017