A brief self-assessing depression scale.

Abstract

The Wang-Self-Assessing Depression Scale (SADS) was devised to provide a brief self-rating form for measuring depressive symptomatology. The present study compares the SADS with the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) to assess reliability and relative ease of completion. Ninety-three ratings on each scale were obtained from a subject group that included normal volunteers and patients with differing degrees of depression. The paired t-test showed no significant difference between mean SDS scores and mean SADS scores for normal volunteers or subjects rated at any of the four depression levels. Positive correlation was demonstrated between tsds scores and SADS scores for depressed and normal subjects. The period of time required to complete the Wang SADS was found to be significantly shorter than for the Zung SDS, while the number of errors and requests for additional assistance were significantly lower. It was felt that these differences would constitute an advantage in the clinical use of the Wang SADS for diagnosing, evaluating, and monitoring the progress of depressed inpatients and outpatients.