The assessment of depression in aphasic stroke patients: the development of the Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire

• Published in: Clinical rehabilitation Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 506 - 513
• Main Authors: Sutcliffe, L M, Lincoln, N B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.1998; Turpin; Arnold; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Aged; Aphasia - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Cerebrovascular Disorders - psychology; Depression; Depressive Disorder - diagnosis; Female; Humans; Male; Measures; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Patients; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Radiotherapy. Instrumental treatment. Physiotherapy. Reeducation. Rehabilitation, orthophony, crenotherapy. Diet therapy and various other treatments (general aspects); Reproducibility of Results; Strokes; Mood disorder; Performance evaluation; Human; Nervous system diseases; Stroke; Questionnaire; Cardiovascular disease; Depression; Exploration; Language disorder; Cerebral disorder; Vascular disease; Central nervous system disease; Aphasia; Complication; Neurological disorder; Cerebrovascular disease
• ISSN: 0269-2155; 1477-0873
• DOI: 10.1191/026921598672167702

Objective: The Stroke Aphasic Depression Questionnaire (SADQ) was developed to detect depressed mood in aphasic patients in the community. Design: Correlation analysis between new questionnaire and established measures. Setting: Patients at home. Methods: Seventy stroke patients who had been discharged from hospital were assessed on the SADQ, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Wakefield Depression Inventory. The SADQ was also administered to 17 aphasic patients on two occasions at a four-week interval. Results: Results indicated that scores on the SADQ were significantly related to other measures of depression (r s) = 0.22–0.52, p <0.05). A shortened 10-item version showed higher validity (r s = 0.32–0.67, p <0.01). Test–retest analysis indicated the SADQ is reliable over a four-week interval (r s = 0.72, p <0.001). Conclusions: The SADQ may be used for assessing depressed mood in aphasic patients in the community though further validation is required.