Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) review in Spanish Samples

Introduction: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS, Zigmond and Snaith, 1983) has become a popular clinical instrument designed to assess anxiety and depression. Evidence of HADS' good screening properties applied to several samples has been found. HADS seems to be as good screening...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnales de psicología (Murcia, Spain) Vol. 31; no. 2; p. 494
Main Authors Terol-Cantero, Maria C, Cabrera-Perona, Victor
Format Journal Article
LanguageSpanish
Published Murcia Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia 01.05.2015
Subjects
Anxiety
Medical diagnosis
Mental depression
Quantitative psychology
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Summary:Introduction: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS, Zigmond and Snaith, 1983) has become a popular clinical instrument designed to assess anxiety and depression. Evidence of HADS' good screening properties applied to several samples has been found. HADS seems to be as good screening properties as other tools. Different studies in Spanish sample tested its psychometric properties, including also their cut-offs points, specificity and sensitivity. Our aim is to unify the results of studies in Spanish population specifying guidelines regarding their applicability and interpretation of their cut-off points. Material and method: bibliographic review. Results: 15 articles were selected, a) HADS confirms its optimal psychometric properties in different groups, b) HADS shows some variability in proposed cut-off points for different groups, c) A number of items shown weak factor loading and item-test. Discussion: These items should be reconsidered for new proposals of a shortened final scale. We suggest attending at distress total scale.
ISSN:0212-9728
1695-2294
DOI:10.6018/analesps.31.2.172701