Review of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
Review of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale Abstract Hamilton Depression Rating Scale which is observer-rating scale is used to assess severity and type of depression. The aim of this paper is to review and evaluate psychometric properties of HDRS. Six articles which used HDRS are analyzed in terms of reliability and validity evidence of HDRS.
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale is a standard scale used for measurement of the severity of depression (Hamilton, 1960). In fact Hamilton stated that this scale has been designed for using on patients who already have diagnosis of affective disorder of depressive type (1960).HDRS is administered by evaluators, mostly clinicians, through interview. Although this scale was initially administered through unstructured interview to obtain information from patients, modified version of the test (Structured Interview Guide for the HDRS) was developed by BW Williams to standardize the administration of the scale. Original version of HDRS includes 17 variables measured either on 5-point or 3-point scale, and total score of HDRS with 17 variables can range from 0 to 53.Moreover, on 0-4 point scale, scores that are greater than 2 and on 0-2 point scale, scores that are greater than 1 indicate the presence of that symptom (Hamdi, Amin, Abou-Saleh, 1997). In other words, increasing the total score indicates increasing the severity of depression. Some of the items on the scale are defined by categories which have increasing intensity, whereas others are planned as a number of equal-valued items (Hamilton, 1960). These 17 variables are designed to assess conditions respectively: depressed mood, guilt, suicide, insomnia initial, insomnia middle, insomnia delayed, work and interests,
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale is a standard scale used for measurement of the severity of depression (Hamilton, 1960). In fact Hamilton stated that this scale has been designed for using on patients who already have diagnosis of affective disorder of depressive type (1960).HDRS is administered by evaluators, mostly clinicians, through interview. Although this scale was initially administered through unstructured interview to obtain information from patients, modified version of the test (Structured Interview Guide for the HDRS) was developed by BW Williams to standardize the administration of the scale. Original version of HDRS includes 17 variables measured either on 5-point or 3-point scale, and total score of HDRS with 17 variables can range from 0 to 53.Moreover, on 0-4 point scale, scores that are greater than 2 and on 0-2 point scale, scores that are greater than 1 indicate the presence of that symptom (Hamdi, Amin, Abou-Saleh, 1997). In other words, increasing the total score indicates increasing the severity of depression. Some of the items on the scale are defined by categories which have increasing intensity, whereas others are planned as a number of equal-valued items (Hamilton, 1960). These 17 variables are designed to assess conditions respectively: depressed mood, guilt, suicide, insomnia initial, insomnia middle, insomnia delayed, work and interests,