The center for epidemiologic studies depression scale as a measure of depressive symptoms in newly diagnosed patients

This study examined the psychometric performance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) in a heterogeneous sample of 453 newly diagnosed patients with cancer to determine its reliability and validity as a measure of the patients' mental health and distress. The authors implemented recent suggestions made by other researchers for evaluating instruments for use in cancer populations. The evaluation included (1) item-level reliability and validity studies, (2) a principal components analysis of hypothesized dimensions of the construct of depressive symptoms purported to be measured by the instrument, (3) a hypothesis-driven investigation of differences in subscales on concurrently measured demographic and clinical variables, and (4) an exploratory analysis of patterns of scores on the instrument, interesting differences in gender, race, and marital status in the variation of patterns of endorsements suggested that the CES-D is sensitive to differences in how depressive symptoms present in these patients. The data supported the use of the instrument as a reliable and valid measure of depressive symptoms in recently diagnosed patients.