Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T21:59:01.906Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validity of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

J. W. Knesevich ,
J. T. Biggs ,
P.J. Clayton  and
V. E. Ziegler
J. W. Knesevich
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
J. T. Biggs
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
P.J. Clayton
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
V. E. Ziegler*
Affiliation:
From the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
*
Address all correspondence and reprint requests to V. E. Ziegler, M.D.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

In 26 depressed patients, a high correlation (0·89) was found between the Hamilton score and a psychiatrist's global rating and between the change (0 · 68) in these ratings during treatment. The Hamilton scale was able to differentiate at the 0·01 level four degrees of severity based on the global rating. Limiting the range of severity measured was found to lower significantly the correlation between the ratings. A prospective examination of a six-item sub-scale of the Hamilton scale developed by Beck and associates failed to confirm its claimed improvement in sensitivity or validity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 131 , Issue 1 , July 1977 , pp. 49 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977 

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.)

References

Bailey, J. & Coppen, A. (1976) A comparison between the Hamilton Rating Scale and the Beck Inventory in the measurement of depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 128, 486–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bech, P., Gram, L. F., Dein, E., Jacobsen, O., Vitger, J. & Bolwig, T. G. (1975) Quantitative rating of depression states. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 51, 161–70.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, R. A., Goulding, R., Theano, G., Bailey, J. & Coppen, A. (1972) Plasma concentration of amitriptyline and clinical response. Lancet, i, 1297–300.Google Scholar
Burrows, G., Scoggins, B. A., Turecek, L. R. & Davies, B. (1974) Plasma nortriptyline and clinical response. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 16, 639–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carroll, B. J., Fielding, J. M. & Blaskki, T. G. (1973) Depression rating scales. Archives of General Psychiatry, 28, 361–6.Google Scholar
Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B., Woodruff, R. A., Winokur, G. & Munoz, R. (1972) Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gram, L. F., Reisby, N., Ibsen, I., Nagy, A., Dencker, S. J., Bech, P., Petersen, G. O. & Christiansen, J. (1976) Plasma levels and anti-depressive effect of imipramine. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 19, 318–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, M. (1960) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.Google Scholar
Prusoff, B. H., Klerman, G. L. & Paykel, E. S. (1972) Concordance between clinical assessments and patients' self-report in depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 546–52.Google Scholar
Schwab, J. J., Bialow, M. R. & Holzer, C. E. (1967) A comparison of two rating scales for depression. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 23, 94–6.Google Scholar
Siegel, S. (1956) Non-parametric Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co, Inc.Google Scholar
Ziegler, V. E., Clayton, P. J., Taylor, J. R., Co, B. T. & Biggs, J. T. (1976) Amitriptyline plasma levels and therapeutic response. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 19, 785–801.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.