Conclusions : According to the published literature , the clinimetric properties of HAM-D6 are superior to those of both the HAM-D17 and MADRS .
Background : In a study aim ed at identifying the items carrying information regarding the global severity of depression , the 6-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale ( HAM-D6 ) was derived from the original 17-item version of the scale ( HAM-D17 ) .
Since then , the HAM-D6 has been used in a wide range of clinical studies .
We now provide a systematic review of the clinimetric properties of HAM-D6 in comparison with those of HAM-D17 and the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale ( MADRS ) .
Assessment of symptom change from improvement curves on the Hamilton depression scale in trials with antidepressants
A total of 97 patients , who participated in two studies on the relationship between the clinical effect and plasma levels of imipramine and clomipramine  , were examined for improvement curves by use of weekly ratings on the Hamilton Depression Scale ( HDS ) . Although we confirmed that our six-item HDS subscale , in contrast to the total 17-item HDS , was a one-dimensional measure of depression , the Rasch analysis showed that the weekly improvement in subscale scores only applied to the individual patient , i.e. an average improvement curve for a group of depressed patients is an abstract ion to which the individual curves can not be transferred . Our results indicate , however , that when the subscale scores are transformed into three clinical categories of depression : no , mild ( minor ) , moderate/-severe ( major ) they could be described by a common improvement curve for all patients . This is illustrated by the percentage of patients who , week to week , changed from major to minor or no depression , or from minor to no depression . We found no specific improvement pattern for imipramine or clomipramine which could be used diagnostically . There is reason to assume that patients completing a controlled trial necessarily will follow a monotonic improvement curve , and the improvement pattern of all patients fulfilling the entry criteria should , therefore , always be reported . The present study thus indicates that calculation of average improvement curves is neither clinical ly nor statistically meaningful , and should be replaced by measures of changes in number of patients in different main severity categories , or by the final rating score . No difference in outcome between imipramine and clomipramine was shown neither on the subscale nor on the 17-item HDS
Conclusions : According to the published literature , the clinimetric properties of HAM-D6 are superior to those of both the HAM-D17 and MADRS .
Background : In a study aim ed at identifying the items carrying information regarding the global severity of depression , the 6-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale ( HAM-D6 ) was derived from the original 17-item version of the scale ( HAM-D17 ) .
Since then , the HAM-D6 has been used in a wide range of clinical studies .
We now provide a systematic review of the clinimetric properties of HAM-D6 in comparison with those of HAM-D17 and the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale ( MADRS ) .