A literature review of the application of the Geriatric Depression Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress

REVIEW

A literature review of the application of the Geriatric Depression Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist to community nursing cohorts Jacqui Allen and Merilyn Annells

Authors: Jacqui Allen, BA(Hons), M Psych (Counselling Psychology), RN, School of Nursing, Deakin University,

Source of funding: Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs. KEYWORDS

community nursing • Depression Anxiety Stress Scales • Geriatric Depression Scale • literature review • mental health screening • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist ABSTRACT

Aims and objectives. To explore through literature review the appropriateness of three common tools for use by community nurses to screen war veteran and war widow(er) clients for depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Background. War veterans and, to a lesser extent, war widow(er)s, are prone to mental health

challenges, especially depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Community nurses do not accurately identify such people with depression and related disorders although they are well positioned to do so. The use of valid and reliable self-report tools is one method of improving nurses' identification of people with actual or potential mental health difficulties for referral to a general practitioner or mental health practitioner for diagnostic assessment and treatment. The Geriatric Depression Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist are frequently recommended for mental health screening but the appropriateness of using the tools for screening war veteran and war widow(er) community nursing clients who are often aged and have functional impairment, is unknown. Design. Systematic review.

Conclusions. Current literature informs that the Geriatric Depression Scale accurately predicts a diagnosis of depression in community nursing cohorts. The three Depression Anxiety Stress Scales subscales of depression, anxiety and stress are valid; however, no studies were identified that compared the performance of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in predicting diagnoses of depression or anxiety. The Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist predicts post-traumatic stress disorder in community cohorts although no studies meeting the selection criteria included male participants. Relevance to clinical practice. This review provides recommendations for the use of the Geriatric Depression Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales and The Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist based on examination of the published evidence for the application of these screening tools in samples approximated to community nursing cohorts. Findings and recommendations would guide community nurses, managers and health planners

in the selection of mental health screening tools to promote holistic community nursing care.

文献综述

社区护士对老年抑郁量表、抑郁焦虑压力量表、创伤后压力障碍量表的应用情况的文献综述

翻译：刘芳丽 河南大学护理学院 审校：李斯俭 香港理工大学

关键词：社区护士；焦虑抑郁量表；焦虑抑郁量表；创伤后压力障碍检查表；文献综述；心理健

康的普查

目的：研究探索社区护士使用这三个工具去检查退伍老兵和军人的遗孀的焦虑、抑郁和创伤后压力障碍的适用性。

背景：退伍军人，（其次是军人遗孀）都易出现精神疾病，尤其是抑郁、焦虑和创伤后的压力障碍。尽管这些社区护士从事这项工作，她们却不能准确的鉴别这些人的抑郁及其相关的精神障碍。通过有效可信的自评工具的使用，可以改善护士鉴别现有的和潜在的心理健康障碍，并将这些患者转给全科医生、精神病医生，以便做进一步诊断和治疗。老年抑郁量表、焦虑抑郁量表、创伤后压力障碍量表是被推荐使用的心理健康筛查量表，但还不了解这些量表是否适用于筛查这些老年和有器质性病变的退伍军人及其军人遗孀。 设计：系统回顾性文献

结论：目前的文献说明，老年抑郁量表能够准确预测社区护理中的抑郁症的诊断。抑郁焦虑压力量表在分别测量抑郁、焦虑和压力方面是有效的；然而，没有研究证实抑郁焦虑压力量表在整体上能预测抑郁或焦虑的诊断。创伤后压力障碍量表能够预测社区中的创伤后的压力障碍，虽然研究选择样本没有包括男性。

临床研究的关联：这篇综述对于社区护士使用老年抑郁量表、焦虑抑郁压力量表和创伤后压力障碍量表，提供了一些建议。这些发现和建议可以帮助社区护士，管理人员和保健设计人员 选择精神健康筛选工具，以改进社区整体护理工作。