Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T20:20:45.596Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Development of the EURO–D scale – a European Union initiative to compare symptoms of depression in 14 European centres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

M. J. Prince ,
F. Reischies ,
A. T. F. Beekman ,
R. Fuhrer ,
C. Jonker ,
S. -L. Kivela ,
B. A. Lawlor ,
A. Lobo ,
H. Magnusson  and
M. Fichter
...Show all authors
M. J. Prince*
Affiliation:
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London
F. Reischies
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Universität Klinikum Eschenallee 3, Berlin, Germany
A. T. F. Beekman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
R. Fuhrer
Affiliation:
Hôpital de la Salpetriere, 75652 Paris, Cedex 13, France
C. Jonker
Affiliation:
Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081C, 1081 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
S. -L. Kivela
Affiliation:
Unit of General Practice PB5000, 90401 Oulu, Finland
B. A. Lawlor
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry of the Elderly, St James's Hospital, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
A. Lobo
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Clinico Universitario, Zaragoza, Spain
H. Magnusson
Affiliation:
Iceland
M. Fichter
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
H. Van Oyen
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Scientific Institute of Public Health, J. Wytsmanstraat 4, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
M. Roelands
Affiliation:
Department of Behaviour Therapy and Counselling, University of Gent, B-9000 Gent, Belgium
I. Skoog
Affiliation:
Sahlgrenska sjukhuset, 413 45 Goteborg, Sweden
C. Turrina
Affiliation:
Ospendale Civile, Breschia, Italy
J. R. M. Copeland
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Human Ageing, University of Liverpool, Liverpool
*
M. J. Prince, Epidemiology Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WCIE 7HT
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

In an 11-country European collaboration, 14 population-based surveys included 21 724 subjects aged ⩾65 years. Most participating centres used the Geriatric Mental State (GMS), but other measures were also used.

Aims

To derive from these instruments a common depression symptoms scale, the EURO–D, to allow comparison of risk factor profiles between centres.

Method

Common items were identified from the instruments. Algorithms for fitting items to GMS were derived by observation of item correspondence or expert opinion. The resulting 12-item scale was checked for internal consistency, criterion validity and uniformity of factor-analytic profile.

Results

The EURO–D is internally consistent, capturing the essence of its parent instrument. A two-factor solution seemed appropriate: depression, tearfulness and wishing to die loaded on the first factor (affective suffering), and loss of interest, poor concentration and lack of enjoyment on the second (motivation)

Conclusions

The EURO–D scale should permit valid comparison of risk-factor associations between centres, even if between-centre variation remains difficult to attribute.

Type
Eurodep Study
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 174 , Issue 4 , April 1999 , pp. 330 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

The European Commission BIOMEDI initiative funded this Concerted Action Programme.

References

American Psychiatric Association (1994) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th edn) (DSM–IV). Washington. DC: APA.Google Scholar
Asberg, M., Perris, C., Schalling, D., et al (1978) CPRS: Development and applications of a psychiatric rating scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 271 (suppl.), 1–69.Google Scholar
Barberrer Gateau, P., Chaslerie, A., Dartigues, J. F., et al (1992) Health measures correlates in a French elderly community population: the PAQUID study. Journal of Gerontology. 47, S88–S95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beekman, A. T. F., van Limbeek, J., Deeg, D. J. H., et al (1994) Een screeningsinstrument voor depressie bij ouderen in de bevolking: de bruikbaarheid van de Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES–D). Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie, 25, 95–103.Google Scholar
Beekman, Deeg, D. J. H., van Tilburg, T., et al (1995) Major and minor depression in later life: a study of prevalence and associated factors. Journal of Affective Disorders, 36, 65–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breslau, N. (1985) Depressive symptoms, major depression, and generalized anxiety: a comparison of self-reports on CES–D and results from diagnostic interviews. Psychiatry Research, 15, 219–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E. & Griffiths-Jones, H. M. (1986) Computerised psychiatric diagnostic system and case nomenclature for elderly subjects: GMS and AGECAT. Psychological Mediane, 16, 89–99.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Beekman, A. T. F., Dewey, M. E., et al (1999a) Depression in Europe. Geographical distribution among older people. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 312–321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Copeland, J. R. M., Beekman, A. T. F., et al (1999b) Cross-cultural comparison of depressive symptoms in Europe does not support stereotypes of ageing. British Journal of Psychiatry, 174, 322–329.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gurland, B., Golden, R. R., Teresi, J. A., et al (1984) The SHORT-CARE: an efficient instrument for the assessment of depression, dementia and disability. Journal of Gerontology, 39, 166–169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kivela, S.-L., Pahkala, K. & Laipala, P. (1988) Prevalence of depression in an elderly Finnish population. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 78, 401–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prince, M. J., Beekman, A. T. F., Deeg, D. J. H., et al (1999) Depression symptoms in late-life assessed using the EURO–D scale. Effect of age, gender and marital status in 14 European centres. British Journal of Psychiatry 174, 339–345.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, L. S. (1977) The CES–D scale: a self report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement. 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robins, L., Meizer, J. E., Croughan, J., et al (1981) National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule: its history, characteristics and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 381–389.Google Scholar
Roelands, M., Wostyn, P., Dorn, H., et al (1994) The prevalence of dementia in Belgium: a population-based door-to-door survey in a rural community. Neuroepidemiology. 13, 155–161.Google Scholar
Skoog, I., Nilsson, L., Landahl, S., et al (1993) Mental disorders and the use of psychotropic drugs in an 85-year-old urban population. International Psychogeriatrics, 5, 33–48.Google Scholar
World Hearth Organization (1990) Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI, version 1.0). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
World Hearth Organization (1993) The Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD–10): Diagnostic Criteria for Research. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Zung, W. W. K. (1965) A self-rating depression scale. Archives of General Psychiatry 12, 62–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.