Evaluation of the hospital anxiety and depression scale as a screening instrument in geriatric medical inpatients

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Abstract
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD) was developed as a screening instrument for use in medical patients. The depression subscale has been validated as a measure of severity in elderly depressed psychiatric inpatients. This study assessed its usefulness as a screening instrument in inpatients in a geriatric medical unit. One hundred geriatric inpatients were evaluated using the Geriatric Mental State (Community Version) to identify cases. The HAD lacked sensitivity and specificity in this situation.