Development of the psychometric property of a Minimum Data-Set-Based Depression Rating Scale for use in long-term care facilities in Taiwan

Abstract

Reliable assessment tools for nurses are important because they allow the early detection of depression symptoms. The MDS-DRS items perform as well as the GDS-SF items in detecting depression symptoms. Furthermore, the MDS-DRS has the advantage of providing information to staff about care process implementation, which can facilitate the identification of areas that need improvement. Further research is needed to validate the use of the MDS-DRS in long-term care facilities.

Convergent Validity, Concurrent Validity, and Diagnostic Accuracy of the interRAI Depression Rating Scale

“…Furthermore, the 3-day look back period of the DRS used in version 9.1 may be particularly vulnerable to short-term fluctuations in mood. Despite this, the sensitivity of the DRS in the present study, although poor, was better than that reported in previous studies 18 –20,22,23 other than the original development study (see Table 2). One possibility is that as the sample was primarily drawn from acute inpatient psychogeriatric wards, the severity of depression within the sample may have tended to be more severe than in general long-term aged residential care samples.…”

“…The poor sensitivity of the DRS in the present study is consistent with the majority of the extant literature using the original DRS in residential settings. Although Burrows et al reported good sensitivity using the original 30-day look-back period when they first developed the scale, other studies have consistently reported that the sensitivity of the DRS is poor [18][19][20]22,23 (see Table 2), though these studies did use varying gold standard measures. The only study other than that of Burrows et al to use a geriatric psychiatrist's diagnosis of major or minor depression was completed by Watson et al and found that sensitivity of the DRS was poor.…”

“…18 In contrast, subsequent studies have consistently reported poor sensitivity. [19][20][21][22][23] Some studies have suggested that the sensitivity of the DRS may be improved by the addition of interRAI items relating to the symptoms of depression. 21,24,25 The concurrent validity of the DRS with other measures of depression has been variable, with one report of a moderate correlation, 21 some of poor correlations, 19,26 and one of mixed results.…”