Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-31T15:21:25.319Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Validity Study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in General Hospital Units and a Community Sample in Nigeria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

O. A. Abiodun
O. A. Abiodun*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin, PO Box 5165, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

The utility of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as a screening instrument for anxiety and depressive disorders in non-psychiatric units (medical & surgical wards; gynaecology & antenatal clinics of a teaching hospital) and a community sample in Nigeria was investigated.

Method

A two-stage screening procedure was employed. This involved the use of GHQ–12/GHQ–30 and HADS against the criteria of a standardised (PSE schedule) psychiatric interview, with psychiatric diagnosis assigned in accordance with ICD–9 criteria.

Results

Sensitivity for the anxiety sub-scale ranged from 85.0% in the medical and surgical wards to 92.9% in the ante-natal clinic, while sensitivity for the depression sub-scale ranged from 89.5% in the community sample to 92.1% in the gynaecology clinic. Specificity for the anxiety sub-scale ranged from 86.5% in the gynaecology clinic to 90.6% in the community sample, while specificity for the depression sub-scale ranged from 86.6% in the medical and surgical wards to 91.1 % in the ante-natal clinic and community sample. Misclassification rates ranged from 9.9% in the community sample to 13.2% in the medical and surgical wards. Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses showed the HADS and the GHQ–12 to be quite similar in ability to discriminate between cases (anxiety and depression) and non-cases.

Conclusions

The HADS is valid for use as a screening instrument in non-psychiatric units and although initially developed for use in hospital settings, it could be usefully employed in community settings of developing countries to screen for mental morbidity.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 165 , Issue 5 , November 1994 , pp. 669 - 672
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1994 

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

Abiodun, O. A. (1989) Sensitivity and validity of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) in a primary health care centre in a rural community in Nigeria. Psychopathologie Africaine, xxxii, 79–88.Google Scholar
Abiodun, O. A. (1990) Mental health and primary care in Africa. International Journal of Mental Health, 18, 48–56.Google Scholar
Abiodun, O. A. (1993) A study of mental morbidity among primary care patients in Nigeria. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 10–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abiodun, O. A. & Ogunremi, O. O. (1990) Psychiatric morbidity in medical and surgical wards of a Nigerian General Hospital. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 34, 409–414.Google Scholar
Abiodun, O. A. & Parakoyi, D. B. (1992) Mental morbidity in a rural community in Nigeria. International Journal of Mental Health, 21, 23–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abiodun, O. A., Adetoro, O. O. & Ogunbode, O. O. (1992) Psychiatric morbidity in a gynaecology clinic in Nigeria. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 36, 485–490.Google Scholar
Abiodun, O. A., Adetoro, O. O. & Ogunbode, O. O. (1993) Psychiatric morbidity in a pregnant population in Nigeria. General Hospital Psychiatry, 15, 125–128.Google Scholar
Barczak, P., Kane, N., Andrews, S., et al (1988) Patterns of psychiatric morbidity in a genito-urinary clinic: a validation of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD). British Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 698–700.Google Scholar
Deshpande, S. N., Sundaram, R. R. & Wig, N. N. (1989) Psychiatric disorders among medical in-patients in an Indian Hospital. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 504–509.Google Scholar
El-Rufai, O. E. F. A. & Absood, G. (1987) Validity study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale among a group of Saudi patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 687–688.Google Scholar
Hamer, D., Sanjeev, D., Butterworth, E., et al (1991) Using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to screen for psychiatric disorders in people presenting with delibrate self-harm. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 782–784.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W., D'Arrigo Busnello, E., Climent, C. E., et al (1983) The WHO Collaborative study on strategies for extending mental health care III: Evaluative design and illustrative results. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1481–1490.Google Scholar
Harding, T. W., De Arango, M. V., Baltazar, I., et al (1980) Mental disorders in primary health care: A study of their frequency and diagnosis in four developing countries. Psychological Medicine, 10, 231–240.Google Scholar
Hawton, K. (1981) The long-term outcome of psychiatric morbidity detected in general medical patients. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 25, 237–243.Google Scholar
Lewis, G. & Wessely, S. (1990) Comparison of the General Health Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 860–864.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maguire, G. P., Julier, D. L., Hawton, K. E., et al (1974) Psychiatric morbidity and referral on two general medical wards. British Medical Journal, 1, 268–270.Google Scholar
Mari, J. J. & Williams, P. (1985) A comparison of two psychiatric screening questionnaires (GHQ-12 and SRQ-20) in Brazil, using Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Psychological Medicine, 15, 651–659.Google Scholar
Mayou, R. & Hawton, K. (1986) Psychiatric disorder in the General hospital. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 172–190.Google Scholar
moorey, S., Greer, S., Watson, M., et al (1991) The factor structure and g-factor stability of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with cancer. British Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 255–259.Google Scholar
Wilkinson, M. J. B. & Barczak, P. (1988) Psychiatric screening in general practice: Comparison of the General Health Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Journal of Royal College of General Practitioners, 38, 311–313.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1978) The Ninth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-9). Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Zigmond, A. S. & Snaith, R. P. (1983) The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67, 361–370.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.