Posted by badhaircut on August 20, 2004, at 14:20:06
In reply to Re: Assess the level of depressive symptoms » Dr. Bob, posted by Slinky on August 20, 2004, at 12:51:48
> (Slinky) I know it's not a diagnosis but what does the overall score mean?
"Your score will be in the range of 0 to 60. If your total is 16 or greater, you may have experienced some depression in the past week. This scale should be used simply as an indicator of the degree of depression in your life..." From http://www.mhhe.com/hper/health/personalhealth/labs/Stress/activ2-2.html (Other sites & abstracts give the same numbers.)
You can also do the test on pencil & paper privately without recording your scores at PB. There's a MS-Word version at http://providers.ipro.org/dox/AMI_Depression/DOC/Center_Epidemiologic.doc . Others, including Spanish & 10-item versions, can be found by Googling "CES-D".
> (Dinah) How does that help *us*? Without some sort of explanation, I can only see that it would help *you* track the average or individual or whatever number over time.
That appears to be why it was created, many years ago, by NIMH: just to track how depression was spreading nationally.
I know people have occasionally asked, "How do I know if I'm getting better?" (Dazedandconfused asked it last year http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030902/msgs/256395.html.) I suggested David Burns' shorter test, which has similar scores and gives more feedback, for what that's worth.
I used to do Burns' test, but "Am I getting better?" is not something I usually have doubts about. So far I'm still not.
But I like having the automatic tracking available here, especially with the notes box. I might use it from time to time. (Thanks, Bob.)
-bhc
poster:badhaircut
thread:379885
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20040717/msgs/379994.html