Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T16:50:34.562Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The diagnostic validity of depression scales and clinical judgement in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Zerak Al-salihy ,
Twana A. Rahim ,
Mahmud Q. Mahmud ,
Asma S. Muhyaldin  and
Alex J. Mitchell
Zerak Al-salihy
Affiliation:
Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust (NSFT), Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, UK, email zeraksalihy@yahoo.com
Twana A. Rahim
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Iraq
Mahmud Q. Mahmud
Affiliation:
Azadi Medical Centre, Erbil, Iraq
Asma S. Muhyaldin
Affiliation:
Tairawa Health Centre, Erbil, Iraq
Alex J. Mitchell
Affiliation:
University of Leicester, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We aimed to find the depression rating scale with the greatest accuracy when applied by psychiatrists in Iraqi Kurdistan. We recruited 200 patients with primary depression and 200 controls living in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The Mini International Neuropsychiatry Inventory (MINI) was used as a gold standard for DSM-IV depression. We also used: the two-item and the nine-item versions of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ2, PHQ9), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) and the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Interviews were performed by psychiatrists who also rated their clinical judgement using the Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale and other mental health practitioners. All scales and tools performed with high accuracy and reliability. The least accurate tool was the PHQ2; however, with only two items it was efficient. Sensitivity and specificity for all tools were above 90%. Clinicians using the CGI were accurate in their clinical judgement. The CDSS appeared to be the most accurate scale for DSM-IV major depression and the PHQ2 the most efficient. However, only the CDSS appeared to offer an advantage over psychiatrists' judgement.

Type
Research papers
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , November 2012 , pp. 96 - 98
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists 2012

References

Addington, D., Addington, J., Maticka-Tyndale, E., et al (1992) Reliability and validity of a depression rating scale for schizophrenics. Schizophrenia Research, 6, 201–208.Google Scholar
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2002) Screening for Depression: Systematic Evidence Review Number 6. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.Google Scholar
Alhasnawi, S., Sadik, S., Rasheed, M., et al (2009) The prevalence and correlates of DSM-IV disorders in the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS). World Psychiatry, 8, 97–109.Google Scholar
Broadhead, W. E., Blazer, D. G., George, L. K., et al (1990) Depression, disability days, and days lost from work in a prospective epidemiologic survey. JAMA, 264, 2524–2528.Google Scholar
Greenberg, P., Stiglin, L., Finkelstein, S., et al (1993) Depression: a neglected major illness. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 54, 419–424.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Chiu, W. T., Dernier, O., et al (2005) Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of 12-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 617–627.Google Scholar
MacMillan, H. L., Patterson, C. J. S. & Wathen, C. N. (2005) Screening for depression in primary care: recommendation statement from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. Canadian Medical Association Journal, 172, 33–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2004) Depression: Management of Depression in Primary and Secondary Care. NICE.Google Scholar
Taiminen, T., Ranta, K., Karlsson, H., et al (2001) Comparison of clinical and best-estimate research DSM-IV diagnoses in a Finnish sample of first-admission psychosis and severe affective disorder. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 55, 107–111.Google Scholar
Üstün, T. B., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Chatterji, S., et al (2004) Global burden of depressive disorders in the year 2000. British Journal of Psychiatry, 184, 386–392.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (2009) Iraq Mental Health Survey 2006/7 Report WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.