Screening for depressive symptoms: Validation of the CES-D scale in a multi-ethnic group of patients with diabetes in Singapore
- D Stahl, MD*,
- CF Sum, FRCPE (chee_fang_sum{at}alexhosp.com.sg)*,
- SS Lum, BA#,
- PS Liow, MMed(Psychiatry)*,
- YH Chan, PhD@,
- S Verma, MD#,
- HC Chua, MMed(Psychiatry)# and
- SA Chong, MMed(Psychiatry)#
- *Diabetes Centre, Medicine, Alexandra Hospital, Singapore
- # Clinical Research, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore
- @Biostatistics Unit, Yong Loo Lin, National University of Singapore
Abstract
Objective: We determined the reliability and validity of the CES-D, against the DSM IV–based diagnostic inventory, SCAN, in a multiethnic sample of adult subjects with diabetes attending a diabetes centre in Singapore.
Research Design & Methods: 522 subjects (74.7% Chinese, 11.1% Malay, 14.2% Indian) completed culturally adapted versions of the CES-D. 291 subjects were administered the SCAN inventory.
Results & Conclusions: The CES-D proved to be a reliable instrument for identifying patients with depressive symptoms in the multiethnic setting of this study. The CES-D (cut-off score 16) showed high NPV of more than 90% in all three ethnic groups. The prevalence of depressive symptoms (CES-D) and depression (SCAN) was significantly different between the Chinese & Indians (CES-D 27.4% vs 43.2%) (p=0.006); (SCAN 15.0% vs 31.1%) (p=0.01).
Footnotes
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- Received October 19, 2007.
- Accepted February 26, 2008.
- Copyright © American Diabetes Association
