A comparison of the Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-short form and the Caregiver-Administered Neuropsychiatric Inventory in dementia

초록

Background & Objectives: The Korean version of the Geriatric Depression Scale-short form (SGDS-K) with 15 items and the Caregiver-Administered Neuropsychiatric Inventory (CGA-NPI) are commonly used for a detection of depressive symptoms in dementia patients. The objective of our study was to investigate a correlation between a self-rating scale, SGDS-K and the CGA-NPI in dementia patients. Methods: One hundred ten patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 40 with vascular dementia, 15 with other cause of dementia, 172 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 33 with vascular MCI, and 68 with subjective memory impairment were included in this study. They were assessed by the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale: 47 subjects of CDR 0, 317 of CDR 0.5, 47 of CDR 1, 13 of CDR 2, and 14 of CDR 3. The subjects completed a self-rating instrument, SGDS-K, and their caregivers administered the CGA-NPI. Results: One subject (2.1%) in CDR 1 group, 2 (15.4%) in CDR 2, and 6 (42.9%) in CDR 3 could not complete the SGDS-K. The scores of the SGDS-K significantly correlated with the depression (r=0.24, p<0.001), anxiety (r=0.14, p=0.007), apathy (r=0.18, p=0.001), night-time behavior (r=0.17, p=0.001), and appetite change scores (r=0.13, p=0.011) of the CGA-NPI in the subjects of CDR 0 or CDR 0.5. However, the scores of the SGDS-K did not correlate with any subscale scores of the CGA-NPI in the subjects of CDR 1, CDR 2 or CDR 3. In CDR 0 and CDR 0.5 groups, there were significant differences in the depression (1.47&#61617;2.24 vs. 0.89&#61617;2.08, p=0.02) and night-time behavior scores (1.39&#61617;2.79 vs. 0.78&#61617;2.25, p=0.03) of the CGA-NPI between the subjects with the SGDS-K score more than 8 and those with its score below 8. Conclusion: The self-rating depressive symptoms may not correlate with the caregiver-report in dementia patients. A clinician-rated depression scale to include an interview with both the caregiver and patient should be considered in dementia patients.