Validation of the Korean Version of the Depression Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (DCSES-K)

Coping self-efficacy is regarded as an important indicator of the quality of life and well-being for community-dwelling patients with depression. The Depression Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (DCSES) was designed to measure self-efficacy beliefs related to the ability to perform tasks specific to coping with the symptoms of depression. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a Korean version of the Depression Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (DCSES-K) for community-dwelling patients with depression. A cross-sectional survey design was used. Content and semantic equivalence of the instrument using translation and back-translation of the DCSES was established. A convenience sample of 149 community-dwelling patients with depression was recruited from psychiatric outpatient clinics. The reliability alpha for the DCSES-K was .93, and the internal consistency was found to be acceptable. For convergent validity, DCSES-K score was positively correlated with the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES-K) score. For construct validity, significant differences in DCSES-K scores were found between a lower BDI group (mean=73.7, SD=16.54) and a higher BDI group (mean=53.74, SD=16.99) (t=7.19, p<.001). For the DCSES-K, 5 factors were extracted, accounting for 62.7% of the variance. Results of this study suggest that DCSES-K can be used as a reliable and valid measure for examining self-efficacy coping with depression for Korean community-dwelling patients with depression.

The effects of care management on depression treatment in a psychiatric clinic: a randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to examine whether care management has an effect on adherence to depression treatment in a psychiatric clinic in Korea.

METHODS

Fifty-seven patients with depression aged 60 years or over participated in the study. They were all low-income patients screened in the community and treated in a psychiatric clinic. The study design was a double-blind randomized controlled trial. The patients were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 29) or usual care (n = 28) groups. Intervention patients received depression care management for 6 months. Primary endpoint was an increase in remission rate as assessed using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score at 6 months. Secondary endpoints included improvement in treatment adherence, improvement in health-related quality of life, and a reduction in feelings of hopelessness.

RESULTS

Patients in the care management intervention group showed a higher remission rate than those in the usual care group (55% vs. 29%, p = 0.0421). Intervention patients were significantly more likely to adhere to the treatment (59% vs. 18%, p = 0.0016). The hopelessness score at the 6-month assessment was significantly lower in the intervention group than the usual care group (23.5 vs. 25.7, p = 0.0443). However, there was not a significant group difference in the quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

We found that care management not only contributed to reducing depressive symptoms in geriatric patients suffering from depression but also increased the treatment adherence rate, which in turn increased the remission rate. Care management intervention is both feasible and effective in psychiatric clinics in Korea.