Mokken scaling analysis of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in individuals with cardiovascular disease

The effects of advanced factor analysis approaches on outcomes in randomised trials for depression: protocol for secondary analysis of individual participant data

BACKGROUND

Modern psychometric methods make it possible to eliminate nonperforming items and reduce measurement error. Application of these methods to existing outcome measures can reduce variability in scores, and may increase treatment effect sizes in depression treatment trials.

AIMS

We aim to determine whether using confirmatory factor analysis techniques can provide better estimates of the true effects of treatments, by conducting secondary analyses of individual patient data from randomised trials of antidepressant therapies.

METHOD

We will access individual patient data from antidepressant treatment trials through Clinicalstudydatarequest.com and Vivli.org, specifically targeting studies that used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) as the outcome measure. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analytic approaches will be used to determine pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment models of depression, in terms of the number of factors and weighted scores of each item. Differences in the derived factor scores between baseline and outcome measurements will yield an effect size for factor-informed depression change. The difference between the factor-informed effect size and each original trial effect size, calculated with total HRSD-17 scores, will be determined, and the differences modelled with meta-analytic approaches. Risk differences for proportions of patients who achieved remission will also be evaluated. Furthermore, measurement invariance methods will be used to assess potential gender differences.

CONCLUSIONS

Our approach will determine whether adopting advanced psychometric analyses can improve precision and better estimate effect sizes in antidepressant treatment trials. The proposed methods could have implications for future trials and other types of studies that use patient-reported outcome measures.

Lifestyle and Treatment Adherence Intervention after a Coronary Event Based on an Interactive Web Application (EVITE): Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial Protocol

Coronary heart disease is one of the main causes of morbimortality around the world. Patients that survive a coronary event suffer a high risk of readmission, relapse and mortality, attributed to the sub-optimal control of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), which highlights the need to improve secondary prevention strategies aimed at improving their lifestyle and adherence to treatment. Through a randomized controlled clinical trial, this study aims to evaluate the effect of an intervention involving an online health application supported by a mobile telephone or tablet (mHealth) on lifestyle (diet, physical activity, and tobacco consumption) and treatment adherence among people with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention. The sample will comprise 240 subjects (120 in each arm: intervention and usual care). They are assessed immediately and nine months after their hospital discharge about sociodemographic, clinical, CVRF, lifestyle, and treatment adherence characteristics. The educative intervention, involving a follow-up and self-monitoring, will be performed using an online mHealth tool consisting of an application for mobile phones and tablets. The quantitative primary outcomes from the two groups will be compared using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted for age and gender. A multivariate analysis will be performed to examine the association of the intervention with lifestyle habits, the control of CVRFs, and outcomes after discharge in terms of the use of health services, emergency visits, cardiovascular events and readmissions.

Psychometric properties of the Danish Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with cardiac disease: results from the DenHeart survey

BACKGROUND

Anxiety and depression symptoms are common among cardiac patients. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is frequently used to measure symptoms of anxiety and depression; however, no study on the validity and reliability of the scale in Danish cardiac patients has been done. The aim, therefore, was to evaluate the psychometric properties of HADS in a large sample of Danish patients with the four most common cardiac diagnoses: ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, heart failure and heart valve disease.

METHODS

The DenHeart study was designed as a national cross-sectional survey including the HADS, SF-12 and HeartQoL and combined with data from national registers. Psychometric evaluation included analyses of floor and ceiling effects, structural validity using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and hypotheses testing of convergent and divergent validity by relating the HADS scores to the SF-12 and HeartQoL. Internal consistency reliability was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha, and differential item functioning by gender was examined using ordinal logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 12,806 patients (response rate 51%) answered the HADS. Exploratory factor analysis supported the original two-factor structure of the HADS, while confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure consisting of the original depression subscale and two anxiety subscales as suggested in a previous study. There were floor effects on all items and ceiling effect on item 8. The hypotheses regarding convergent validity were confirmed but those regarding divergent validity for HADS-D were not. Internal consistency was good with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 for HADS-A and 0.82 for HADS-D. There were no indications of noticeable differential item functioning by gender for any items.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study supported the evidence of convergent validity and high internal consistency for both HADS outcomes in a large sample of Danish patients with cardiac disease. There are, however, conflicting results regarding the factor structure of the scale consistent with previous research.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01926145.

Dimensionality of the Chinese hospital anxiety depression scale in psychiatric outpatients: Mokken scale and factor analyses

OBJECTIVE

The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) is a widely used scale of anxiety and depression. However, recent studies have challenged the bi-dimensional scoring of the HADS. The present study was to examine the dimensionality of the Chinese HADS.

METHODS

We recruited a convenience sample of 214 adult psychiatric outpatients at a medical centre in Taiwan, and they completed the Chinese HADS. We used Mokken scale analysis (MSA), exploratory factor analysis (EFA), exploratory bifactor analysis (EBA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the dimensionality of the Chinese HADS.

RESULTS

The Chinese HADS was a moderate Mokken scale (H_s = 0.44), and had a two-factor structure. EBA showed that one general factor, emotional distress, explained 68% of the common variance of the Chinese HADS. CFA confirmed that the bifactor model had the best fit statistics. The items 5 and 7 of the Chinese HADS contributed to structural ambiguity in the Chinese HADS subscales.

CONCLUSIONS

The sum scores of the Chinese HADS were a reliable and valid unidimensional measure of emotional distress. The Chinese HADS subscales were incapable of differentiating between anxiety and depression. Clinicians and researchers should choose other scales that are specifically designed for measuring anxiety and depression.

The Techniques for Overcoming Depression Questionnaire: Mokken Scale Analysis, Reliability, and Concurrent Validity in Depressed Cardiac Patients

OBJECTIVES

The Techniques for Overcoming Depression (TOD) questionnaire assesses the frequency with which patients being treated for depression use cognitive-behavioral techniques in daily life. This study examined its latent structure, reliability and concurrent validity in depressed cardiac patients.

METHOD

The TOD was administered at the initial and final treatment sessions in three trials of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) (n = 260) for depression in cardiac patients. Mokken scaling was used to determine its dimensionality.

RESULTS

The TOD is unidimensional in depressed cardiac patients, both at the initial evaluation (H = .46) and the end of treatment (H = .47). It is sensitive to change and the total score correlates with therapist ratings of the patient's socialization to CBT (r=.40, p<.05), homework adherence (r=0.36, p<0.05), and use of cognitive-behavioral techniques (r=.51, p<.01). TOD scores were associated with post-treatment depression scores in two of the trials (p<.01 in both analyses).

CONCLUSIONS

The TOD is a unidimensional, reliable, valid, and clinically informative measure of self-reported use of cognitive-behavioral techniques for overcoming depression in cardiac patients. Studies of the TOD in other depressed patient populations are needed.

Fatalism Revisited: Further Psychometric Testing Across Two Studies

Cancer fatalism may impact outcomes, particularly for African American (AA) women with breast cancer (BrCa). We examined the psychometrics of the modified Powe Fatalism Inventory in sample of AA women with BrCa from two studies. Only the predetermination and God's will items satisfy the conditions to be classified as a strong subscale. Our analysis identified that five items had strong psychometric properties for measuring fatalism for AA women with BrCa. However, these items do not include all the defining attributes of fatalism. A strong measure of fatalism strengthens our understanding of how this concept influences AA patient outcomes.

Psychometric properties of a new treatment expectation scale in rheumatoid arthritis: an application of item response theory

Background

Patient-generated health outcome measures are important in the assessment of long-term treatment goals for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but few psychometrically sound measures are available. The MAPLe-RA (Measuring Actual Patient-Led expectations in RA) is a new questionnaire and its psychometric properties are not investigated. This study aims to examine these properties for each of the items using Item Response Theory (IRT) .

Methods

Participants were included if they completed the scale (MAPLe-RA). A one parameter (Rasch) model and a two parameter logistic (2PL) model were applied to these data using M-plus software.

Results

One hundred thirty-eight patients with RA were included in the analysis. MAPLe-RA scale comprised of 21 items, the mean score was 71 (20.28) ranging from 0 to 105. Most items operated in the high expectations part of the items characteristics curves (ICC). Item discrimination varied widely, items with the highest discrimination capacity from the three domains were: pain (physical domain); control of my RA (self-management) and maintaining social role (psycho-social domain); feeling better overall and involvement in treatment decision making (impact of new treatment domain).

Conclusion

RA patients’ expectations of treatment are higher in the physical and psycho-social domains and less so in the impact of new treatment domain.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12891-015-0690-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of depression on subsequent smoking cessation in patients with chronic respiratory conditions

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review the impact of depression on subsequent smoking cessation in prospective studies of chronic respiratory patients.

METHOD

A systematic search of electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL) was conducted to identify prospective studies of chronic respiratory patients that measured depression at baseline and smoking status at follow-up, dating from 1st January 1990 to 21st February 2014. The standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between baseline depressive symptoms and subsequent smoking cessation was estimated from available data using random effects meta-analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 1314 citations were retrieved and 197 articles were further evaluated by two reviewers. Seven articles provided sufficient data to estimate the association between depressive symptoms and subsequent smoking cessation. Those with elevated depressive symptoms were significantly less likely to quit smoking at follow-up than those not reporting elevated depressive symptoms (SMD=-.31, 95% CI -.43 to -.19; I(2)=0%, P=.506).

CONCLUSIONS

The association between depression and subsequent smoking was poorly reported or omitted in most studies. However, the available evidence suggests that depression decreases the likelihood that patients with chronic respiratory conditions will quit smoking. Future research is needed to determine how best to manage depression and smoking cessation in this population.

Post-myocardial infarction anxiety or depressive symptoms and risk of new cardiovascular events or death: a population-based longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between anxiety symptoms 3 months after myocardial infarction (MI) and/or new cardiovascular events and death, taking into account established risk factors, and to compare the results with those of the impact of depressive symptoms. Post-MI anxiety symptoms have been associated with a composite outcome of new cardiovascular events or death, but previous studies have not fully adjusted for potential confounders. It remains unclear whether anxiety symptoms are independently associated with both new cardiovascular events and death.

METHODS

A population-based cohort study of 896 persons (70% of eligible) with first-time MI between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2009, completing the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, were followed up until 31 July 2012.

RESULTS

A total of 239 new cardiovascular events and 94 deaths occurred during 1975 person-years of follow-up. Cox proportional hazards models showed that anxiety symptoms were associated with both new cardiovascular events and death in analysis adjusted for age only. The estimates decreased when adjusted for dyspnea score, physical activity, and depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms were no longer associated with new cardiovascular events (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.98-1.07) or with death (HR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.88-1.01). In fully adjusted models, depressive symptoms remained associated with death (HR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.05-1.21), but not with new cardiovascular events (HR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.99-1.06).

CONCLUSIONS

Post-MI anxiety symptoms were not an independent prognostic risk factor for new cardiovascular events or for death, whereas depressive symptoms were associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Revisiting the dimensionality of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in an international sample of patients with ischaemic heart disease

OBJECTIVE

Recently controversy has surrounded the dimensionality of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). We assessed the dimensionality of the HADS in a large international sample of patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The analysis of an international sample enabled the current study to broaden knowledge gained from existing studies with small, regional samples.

METHODS

Data from the HeartQoL study of patients with IHD (n=6241, 22 countries speaking 15 languages) were analyzed using CFA.

RESULTS

CFA indicated a hierarchical bifactor solution, with mostly strong item loadings on a general factor (explaining 73% of the variance), and weak to very weak loadings on orthogonal depression (16%) and anxiety (11%) subscales. The bifactor model fits the data significantly better than both the original bidimensional model and Dunbar's higher-order three-factor model.

CONCLUSION

These results, from a large international sample of patients with IHD, suggest that the HADS scale is dominated by a single general distress factor. Although the best CFA model fit was a hierarchical bifactor solution, the subscales had weak item loadings, providing little psychometric evidence of the ability of the HADS to differentiate anxiety and depressive symptoms. It is argued that clinicians and researchers working with patients with IHD should abandon the HADS and use alternative measures of depression and anxiety.

Psychosocial aspects in cardiac rehabilitation: From theory to practice. A position paper from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Section of the European Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation of the European Society of Cardiology

A large body of empirical research shows that psychosocial risk factors (PSRFs) such as low socio-economic status, social isolation, stress, type-D personality, depression and anxiety increase the risk of incident coronary heart disease (CHD) and also contribute to poorer health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and prognosis in patients with established CHD. PSRFs may also act as barriers to lifestyle changes and treatment adherence and may moderate the effects of cardiac rehabilitation (CR). Furthermore, there appears to be a bidirectional interaction between PSRFs and the cardiovascular system. Stress, anxiety and depression affect the cardiovascular system through immune, neuroendocrine and behavioural pathways. In turn, CHD and its associated treatments may lead to distress in patients, including anxiety and depression. In clinical practice, PSRFs can be assessed with single-item screening questions, standardised questionnaires, or structured clinical interviews. Psychotherapy and medication can be considered to alleviate any PSRF-related symptoms and to enhance HRQoL, but the evidence for a definite beneficial effect on cardiac endpoints is inconclusive. A multimodal behavioural intervention, integrating counselling for PSRFs and coping with illness should be included within comprehensive CR. Patients with clinically significant symptoms of distress should be referred for psychological counselling or psychologically focused interventions and/or psychopharmacological treatment. To conclude, the success of CR may critically depend on the interdependence of the body and mind and this interaction needs to be reflected through the assessment and management of PSRFs in line with robust scientific evidence, by trained staff, integrated within the core CR team.

Factor Structure of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Malaysian Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) is a common screening instrument used to determine the levels of anxiety and depression experienced by a patient and has been extensively used in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aimed to establish the factor structure of HADS in a Malaysian sample of 189 patients with CAD. Factor analysis of HADS using principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded 3 factors. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the use of HADS in assessing 3 distinct dimensions of psychological distress—namely, anxiety, anhedonia, and psychomotor retardation. The HADS showed good internal consistency and was found to be a valid measure of psychological distress among Malaysian patients with CAD. However, low mean scores on the original 2 factors—that is, anxiety and depression—and also on the 2 depression subscales—anhedonia and psychomotor retardation—suggests that the recommended cutoff score to screen for psychological distress among CAD patients be reevaluated. Further research to determine the generalizability and consistency for the tridimensional structure of the HADS in Malaysia is recommended.

Anxiety and depression in the general population in Colombia: reference values of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

PURPOSE

The objective of this study was to generate normative values and to test psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for the general population of Colombia. While there are several normative studies in Europe, Latin American normative values are missing. The identification of people with mental distress requires norms obtained for the specific country.

METHODS

A representative face-to-face household study (n = 1,500) was conducted in 2012. The survey questionnaire contained the HADS, several other questionnaires, and sociodemographic variables.

RESULTS

HADS mean values (anxiety: M = 4.61 ± 3.64, depression: M = 4.30 ± 3.91) were similar to those reported from European studies. Females were more anxious and depressed than males. The depression scale showed a nearly linear age dependency with increasing scores for old people. Mean scores and percentiles (75 and 90%) are presented for each age decade for both genders. Both anxiety and depression correlated significantly with the total score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory and with the mental component summary score of the quality of life questionnaire SF-8. Internal consistency coefficients of both scales were satisfying, but confirmatory factorial analysis results only partially supported the two-dimensional structure of the questionnaire.

CONCLUSION

This study supports the reliability of the HADS in one Latin American country. The normative scores can be used to compare a patient's score with those derived from a reference group. However, the generalizability to other Latin American regions requires further research.

Scalability and internal consistency of the German version of the dementia-specific quality of life instrument QUALIDEM in nursing homes - a secondary data analysis

BACKGROUND

Quality of life (Qol) is a widely selected outcome in intervention studies. The QUALIDEM is a dementia-specific Qol-instrument from The Netherlands. The aim of this study is to evaluate the scalability and internal consistency of the German version of the QUALIDEM.

METHODS

This secondary data analysis is based on a total sample of 634 residents with dementia from 43 nursing homes. The QUALIDEM consists of nine subscales that were applied to a subsample of 378 people with mild to severe dementia and six consecutive subscales that were applied to a subsample of 256 people with very severe dementia. Scalability, internal consistency and distribution scores were calculated for each predefined subscale using the Mokken scale analysis.

RESULTS

In people with mild to severe dementia, seven subscales, care relationship, positive affect, negative affect, restless tense behavior, positive self-image, social relations and feeling at home, were scalable (0.31 ≤ H ≤ 0.65) and internally consistent (Rho ≥ 0.62). The subscales social isolation (H = 0.28) and having something to do (H = 0.18) were not scalable and exhibited insufficient reliability scores (Rho ≤ 0.53). For people with very severe dementia, five subscales, care relationship, positive affect, restless tense behavior, negative affect and social relations, were scalable (0.33 ≤ H ≤ 0.65), but only the first three of these subscales showed acceptable internal consistency (Rho 0.59 - 0.86). The subscale social isolation was not scalable (H = 0.20) and exhibited poor internal consistency (Rho = 0.42).

CONCLUSIONS

The results show an acceptable scalability and internal consistency for seven QUALIDEM subscales for people with mild to severe dementia and three subscales for people with very severe dementia. The subscales having something to do (mild to severe dementia), negative affect (very severe dementia), social relations (very severe dementia) and social isolation (both versions) produced unsatisfactory results and require revision.

Depressive symptoms are a risk factor for all-cause mortality: results from a prospective population-based study among 3,080 cancer survivors from the PROFILES registry

BACKGROUND

The goal of this large prospective population-based study was to examine the association between depressive symptoms and all-cause mortality among cancer survivors up to 10 years post-diagnosis.

METHODS

All currently alive individuals diagnosed with endometrial or colorectal cancer (CRC) between 1998 and 2007 or with lymphoma or multiple myeloma between 1999 and 2008, as registered in the Eindhoven Cancer Registry, received a questionnaire on depressive symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)) in 2008 or 2009, respectively; 69 % (n = 3,080) responded. Survival status was obtained from the Central Bureau for Genealogy.

RESULTS

Clinically elevated levels of depressive symptoms (HADS cutoff value ≥8) were more prevalent in those who died compared to those who survived (38 vs. 19 %, respectively; p < 0.0001). This was also evident across different types of cancer. After adjustment for independent predictors of all-cause mortality, 1-10-year survivors with depressive symptoms had an increased risk of death (hazard ratio (HR) 2.07; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.56-2.74; p < 0.0001), and this was also found among 1-2-year survivors (HR, 2.20; 95 % CI, 1.41-3.43; p < 0.001). Sub-analyses among CRC survivors gave the opportunity to adjust for metastasis and showed that depressive symptoms among 1-10-year CRC survivors and 1-2-year CRC survivors increased the risk of death (HR, 1.88; 95 % CI, 1.24-2.83; p < 0.01 and HR, 2.55; 95 % CI, 1.44-4.51; p < 0.001, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

This study showed that patients with depressive symptoms had twofold risk for all-cause mortality, even after adjustment for major clinical predictors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

Paying more attention to the recognition and treatment of depressive symptoms seems warranted since depressive symptoms are often underdiagnosed and undertreated in cancer patients.

The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: a meta confirmatory factor analysis

OBJECTIVE

To systematically evaluate the latent structure of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) through reanalysis of previous studies and meta confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).

METHOD

Data from 28 samples were obtained from published studies concerning the latent structure of the HADS. Ten models were considered, including eight previously identified models and two bifactor models. The fit of each model was assessed separately in each sample and by meta CFA. Meta CFA was conducted using all samples and using subgroups consisting of community samples, cardiovascular disease samples and samples from studies administering the English language version of the HADS.

RESULTS

A bifactor model including all items loading onto a general distress factor and two orthogonal anxiety and depression group factors provided the best fit for the majority of samples. Meta CFA provided further support for the bifactor model with two group factors. This was the case using all samples, as well as all subgroup analyses. The general distress factor explained 73% of the covariance between items, with the (autonomic) anxiety and (anhedonic) depression factors explaining 11% and 16%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

A bifactor structure provides the most acceptable empirical explanation for the HADS correlation structure. Due to the presence of a strong general factor, the HADS does not provide good separation between symptoms of anxiety and depression. We recommend it is best used as a measure of general distress.

Positive and negative relationship between anxiety and depression of patients in pain: a bifactor model analysis

BACKGROUND

The relationship between anxiety and depression in pain patients has not been clarified comprehensively. Previous research has identified a common factor in anxiety and depression, which may explain why depression and anxiety are strongly correlated. However, the specific clinical features of anxiety and depression seem to pull in opposite directions.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to develop a statistical model of depression and anxiety, based on data from pain patients using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). This model should account for the positive correlation between depression and anxiety in terms of a general factor and also demonstrate a latent negative correlation between the specific factors underlying depression and anxiety.

METHODS

The anxiety and depression symptoms of pain patients were evaluated using the HADS and the severity of their pain was assessed with the visual analogue scale (VAS). We developed a hierarchical model of the data using an IRT method called bifactor analysis. In addition, we tested this hierarchical model with model fit comparisons with unidimensional, bidimensional, and tridimensional models. The correlations among anxiety, depression, and pain severity were compared, based on both the bidimensional model and our hierarchical model.

RESULTS

The bidimensional model analysis found that there was a large positive correlation between anxiety and depression (r = 0.638), and both scores were significantly positively correlated with pain severity. After extracting general factor of distress using bifactor analysis, the specific factors underlying anxiety and depression were weakly but significantly negatively correlated (r = -0.245) and only the general factor was significantly correlated with pain severity. Compared with the three first-order models, the bifactor hierarchical model had the best model fit.

CONCLUSION

Our results support the hypothesis that apart from distress, anxiety and depression are inversely correlated. This finding has not been convincingly demonstrated in previous research.

Differential predictive value of depressive versus anxiety symptoms in the prediction of 8-year mortality after acute coronary syndrome

OBJECTIVE

Both depression and anxiety have been associated with poor prognosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, certain symptoms and how they are measured may be more important than others. We investigated three different scales to determine their predictive validity.

METHODS

Patients with ACS (N = 598) completed either the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS-A, HADS-D; n = 316) or the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (n = 282). Their all-cause mortality status was assessed at 8 years.

RESULTS

During follow-up, 20% (121/598) of participants died. Cox proportional hazards modeling showed that the HADS-D was predictive of mortality (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.04-1.19), and this association remained significant after adjustment for major clinical/demographic factors, whereas the HADS-A (HR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.85-1.09) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (HR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.91-1.08) were not. The following depression items from the HADS-D predicted mortality: "I still enjoy the things I used to enjoy" (HR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.05-1.82), "I can laugh and see the funny side of things" (HR = 1.48, 95% CI = 1.11-1.96), "I feel as if I am slowed down" (HR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.24-2.22), and "I look forward with enjoyment to things" (HR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.08-1.72).

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive symptoms related to lack of enjoyment or pleasure and physical or cognitive slowing, as measured by the HADS-D, predicted all-cause mortality at 8 years ACS patients, whereas other depressive and anxiety symptoms did not. Whether symptoms of distress predict prognosis in ACS seems to be dependent on the measures and items used.

The Chinese version of the cardiac depression scale: Mokken scaling

Background

Myocardial infarction is a major cause of death and morbidity in many countries, including China. The aim of this study was to analyse a Mandarin Chinese translation of the Cardiac Depression Scale for a hierarchy of items according to the criteria of Mokken scaling.

Findings

Data from 438 Chinese participants who completed the Chinese translation of the Cardiac Depression Scale were analysed using the Mokken scaling procedure and the 'R' statistical programme using the diagnostics available in these programmes. Correlations between Mandarin Chinese items and Chinese translations of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory were also analysed. Fifteen items from the Mandarin Chinese Cardiac Depression Scale were retained in a weak but reliable Mokken scale; invariant item ordering was evident but of low accuracy and the Mokken scaled items of the Chinese Cardiac Depression Scale correlated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory.

Conclusions

Items from the Mandarin Chinese Cardiac Depression Scale form a Mokken scale and this offers further insight into how the items of the Cardiac Depression Scale relate to the measurement of depression in people with a myocardial infarction.