What is a geriatric depression?

Geriatric depression scale (GDS) is a common tool in nursing facilities to assess whether the patient is clinically depressing. Most other standard depressing tests use a graded reaction system to a statement and selects from four or more nuancetings for each statement. GDS, on the other hand, is a simple list of questions that are answered "yes" or "no" and is available in short and long format.

Created J.A. In 1983, Yesavage was first studied in Chinese seniors, then adopted for use in the United States and on several other continents. The 1986 report on the Geriatric Depression scale in Journal of Aging and Mental Health found that the survey was as effective as other tests such as Hamilton Rating Scale for depression and depressive additional control list for determining depression.

Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing (HIGN) in 2007 estimated that about 5.000 000 older Americans were clinically depressing, which is about six who were 65 and older. The percentage of the depressive ones increases dramatically as soon as acute care is needed. According to HIGN, almost half of all nursing patients show - 42 percent - symptoms and thinking of depression.

with age and damage comes with cognitive obstacles; Hearing and understanding are not what they used to be. Geriatric depression scale counts this reality easily understandable and answers questions. There are no gradations of feelings that may vary from day to day and even an hour to an hour. Patients only respond to "yes" or "no" and the point is the table every time a question is answered by a certain answer.

short and long form of test is easily accessible; The long form has 30 questions and a short form has only 10 questions. The answer is simple for scoring purposes. A normal level of depression would be for test with a long form scored nine or lower. Mild depression is indicated by a score between 10 and 19, with severe depression indicating a score between 20 and 30. The short form score is equally easy to categorize.

GD questions are dull and get to the heart of things. The very first question, both in short and long form is: "Are you basically satisfied with your life?" Others are also characterized by questions, with questions like, "Do you often feel helpless?" "Do you feel like crying?" "Is your mind as clear as it used to be?" "Are you worried about the past?" These types of questions are easy for old or disoriented understanding.