Geriatric Depression Scale as a community screening instrument for elderly Chinese immigrants

• Published in: International psychogeriatrics Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 445
• Main Author: Mui, A C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-09-1996
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Asian Americans - psychology; China - ethnology; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Depressive Disorder - epidemiology; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Emigration and Immigration; Female; Humans; Incidence; Male; Mass Screening; Middle Aged; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; China
• ISSN: 1041-6102
• DOI: 10.1017/S1041610296002803

Depression is the most prevalent mental health problem among the elderly, including Chinese-American elderly. A Chinese-language version of the popular Geriatric Depression Scale Long Form (GDS-LF) and Short Form (GDS-SF) was developed. Based on the responses of 50 elderly Chinese immigrants to the U.S. (25 women and 25 men), the GDS-LF evidenced high internal consistency but the GDS-SF did not. Factor analysis was then used to develop a new version of the GDS-SF, which was internally consistent. The revised GDS-SF is an important and easy-to-administer tool for community screening of depression among elderly Chinese immigrants.