The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 is a sensitive case-finder of clinically important depressive states in elderly people in primary care

Objective No depression rating scale has yet been designed to identify all clinically important depressive states in elderly. Therefore, this study investigated the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25), a self-rating scale for depression, to see if it was a sensitive indicator of major, minor and subsyndromal depression. Methods Structured interviews of 37 people with a high depressive score and an age and sex matched control group comprised of 37 persons with a low depressive score in HSCL-25, in order to compare the HSCL-25 ratings with the Montgomery-Angstromsberg-Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) as well as with the criteria for major, minor and subsyndromal depression. Results The sensitivity for identifying any depression was 94% and the specificity was 94% for HSCL-25 compared to the diagnostic criteria for depressive disorders. Conclusions HSCL-25 is a sensitive case-finder of any depressive disorder and may be useful in general practice and for screening studies of depression in elderly people. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.