Objective The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is an evaluation tool to diagnose older adult's depression. This questionnaire was defined by Yesavage and Brink in 1982; it was designed expressly for the older person and defines his/her degree of satisfaction, quality of life, and feelings. The objective of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-IT). Methods The Italian version of the Geriatric Depression Scale was administered to 119 people (79 people with a depression diagnosis and 40 healthy ones). We examined the following psychometric characteristics: internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity (factor structure). Results Cronbach's Alpha for the GDS-IT administered to the depressed sample was 0.84. Test-retest reliability was 0.91 and the concurrent validity was 0.83. The factorial analysis showed a structure of 5 factors, and the scale cut-off is between 10 and 11. Conclusion The GDS-IT proved to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for the evaluation of depression in an Italian population. In the present study, the GDS-IT showed good psychometric properties. Health professionals now have an assessment tool for the evaluation of depression symptoms in the Italian population.

Introduction The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is commonly used to assess depressive symptoms, but its psychometric properties have never been examined in Italian people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of this study was to study the reliability and validity of the Italian version of the GDS in a sample of PD patients. Methods The GDS was administered to 74 patients with PD in order to study its internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct, and discriminant validity. Results The internal consistency of GDS was excellent (α = 0.903), as well as the test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.941 [95% CI: 0.886–0.970]). GDS showed a strong correlation with instruments related to the depression (ρ = 0.880) in PD (ρ = 0.712) and a weak correlation with generic measurement instruments (−0.320 < ρ <−0.217). An area under the curve of 0.892 (95% CI 0.809–0.975) indicated a moderate capability to discriminate depressed patients to nondepressed patient, with a cutoff value between 15 and 16 points that predicts depression (sensitivity = 87%; specificity = 82%). Conclusion The GDS is a reliable and valid tool in a sample of Italian PD subjects; this scale can be used in clinical and research contexts.

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