Proposed Factor Structure of the Geriatric Depression Scale

Abstract

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is commonly used to measure depression in the elderly. However, there have been no reports of the underlyingstructureoftheGDS. Tothisend,theGDS was administered to 326 community-dwelling elderly subjects, and the data were subjected to a factor analysis. A five-factor solution was selected and, after a varimax rotation, the factors that emerged could be described as: (1) sad mood, (2) lack of energy, (3) positive mood, (4) agitation, and (5) social withdrawal. This solution accounted for 42.9% of the variance. Knowledge of the factor smcture should aid both clinicians and researchers in the interpretation of responses on the GDS.The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was developed to avoid the problems that arise when scales developed for use with young subjects are applied to elderly subjects (Yesavage et al., 1983). One such problem relates to somatic complaints. For example, in young patients the number of somatic complaints can be a valuable indicator of depression (Bolla-Wilson & Bleecker, 1989;Zemore & Eames, 1979); in elderly patients, however, somatic complaints do not provide a useful index of depression because, in general, elderly patients tend to report somatic problems (Yesavageet al., 1983). The GDS avoids this problem by excluding from the scale questions that relate to somatic complaints.The validity of the GDS has been demonstrated in several empirical studies. Brink et al. (1982) found that the GDS had an 84% sensitivity rate and a 95% specificity 23

Six-Month Lower Limb Aerobic Exercise Improves Physical Function in Young-Old, Old-Old, and Oldest-Old Adults

“…MMSE scores range from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater cognitive function. Depression was evaluated using the Short Form-15 Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) (Sheikh et al 1991). GDS scores range from 0 to 15, with higher scores indicating severe depression.…”

Macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 is associated with cognitive impairment and predicts cognitive decline - the Sydney Memory and Aging Study

“…The final covariates included age, sex, years of education, depressive symptoms, apolipoprotein (APOE) genotype, cardiovascular disease risk (measured by the modified Framingham Risk Score), history of cancer, incidence of CVA, AMI, angina, serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), CRP, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-12 (IL-12). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (Sheikh et al, 1991), which has been shown to be valid and to have excellent test-retest reliability (Sheikh et al, 1991). MIC-1/GDF15 has been shown to be associated with tumor grade, cancer stage and prognosis, and systemic inflammation (Bauskin et al, 2006).…”

The association between systemic inflammation and cognitive performance in the elderly: the Sydney Memory and Ageing Study

“…Normal and IFG states were defined using the American Diabetes Association criteria: normal ≤5.5 mmol/L, IFG defined by glucose between 5.6 and 6.9 mmol/L. Depressive symptoms were assessed by the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; Sheikh and Yesavage 1986), which has been shown to be valid and have excellent test re-test reliability (Sheikh et al 1991). The continuous GDS was included as a covariate.…”