Conclusions : Of the most commonly used measures , the majority lacked sufficient evidence to warrant their use with older adults .
Based on psychometric evidence , three measures ( Beck Anxiety Inventory , Penn State Worry Question naire , and Geriatric Mental Status Examination ) showed psychometric properties sufficient to justify the use of these instruments when assessing anxiety in older adults .
In addition , two measures developed specifically for older adults ( Worry Scale and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory ) were also found to be appropriate for use with older adults
Objectives : The authors set out to systematic ally review the research literature in order to identify the anxiety measures most commonly used in the assessment of older adults .
Once identified , the literature was review ed to determine the extent to which these instruments had age-relevant norms and psychometric data supporting their use with older adults .
Factor structure of the hospital anxiety and depression scale in older patients with major depression.
OBJECTIVE Symptomatic anxiety has prognostic significance in major depression . In theory , the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ( HADS ) should be a useful instrument for measuring the severity of symptomatic anxiety in late-life depression . However , the dimensional structure of the HADS has not been evaluated in elderly depressed patients ; it is not known whether the scale actually functions as a bidimensional measure of anxiety and depression in this population . The purpose of this exploratory study , therefore , was to examine the factor structure of the HADS in older patients with major depression . METHOD The HADS was completed by 213 patients , aged 60 years or older , with DSM-III-R unipolar major depression . Principal components analysis was performed on the full 14-item HADS and on each of its subscales . RESULTS Two distinct factors , which corresponded to the instrument 's depression and anxiety subscales , emerged . The two-factor structure proved reasonably stable when the study group was r and omly divided into two halves . Analysis of the subscales result ed in a single factor for each . The subscales had high internal reliability . CONCLUSIONS These findings confirm that the HADS functions as a bidimensional measure of depression and anxiety in older patients with major depression . The results suggest that the HADS is a valid instrument for measuring severity of anxiety , independent of other depressive symptoms , in this population
Conclusions : Of the most commonly used measures , the majority lacked sufficient evidence to warrant their use with older adults .
Based on psychometric evidence , three measures ( Beck Anxiety Inventory , Penn State Worry Question naire , and Geriatric Mental Status Examination ) showed psychometric properties sufficient to justify the use of these instruments when assessing anxiety in older adults .
In addition , two measures developed specifically for older adults ( Worry Scale and Geriatric Anxiety Inventory ) were also found to be appropriate for use with older adults
Objectives : The authors set out to systematic ally review the research literature in order to identify the anxiety measures most commonly used in the assessment of older adults .
Once identified , the literature was review ed to determine the extent to which these instruments had age-relevant norms and psychometric data supporting their use with older adults .