Abstract

CAMPO-ARIAS, Adalberto; URRUCHURTU MENDOZA, Yorjany  and  SOLANO MORALES, Tharim. Internal consistency and exploratory factorial analysis of the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) in Cartagena (Colombia). Salud, Barranquilla [online]. 2008, vol.24, n.1, pp.1-9. ISSN 0120-5552.

Objective: To determine the internal consistency, factor structure and construct reliability of the Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) among older people attending community centers in Cartagena (Colombia). Materials and method: Validation study of a screening scale without a gold standard. A group of 185 adults participated in this research. Ages were between 65 and 95 years (Mean = 75.6, SD=6.9); and 57.3% were women. Internal consistency was determined by Kuder-Richardson's formula 20, factor structure was explored by factor analysis with principal component method, and construct reliability was computed by Anderson-Gerbing's formula. Results: Internal consistency was 0,783 and the factor solution showed two factors (depressed mood and life enjoy) that explained 37.3% of the variance, and construct reliability was 0,700. Conclusions: The GDS-15 showed acceptable internal consistency and construct reliability. However, its two-dimensional factor structure is not satisfactory. It is possible that the GDS15 exhibits low ability to identify depressive episodes in elders with low scholarship.

Keywords : Depressive disorders; geriatric depression Scale (GDS-15); community health centers; validation studies.

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