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The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. A validity study
Kørner A, Lauritzen L, Abelskov K, Gulmann N, Marie Brodersen A, Wedervang-Jensen T, Marie Kjeldgaard K.. Nordic journal of psychiatry, 2006-01-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
The study is a validation study of two psychogeriatric depression rating scales, The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD). The sensitivity and specificity, and the convergent and criterion validity of the two scales as well as the inter-rater reliability of the CSDD are reported. Two independent clinicians using the ICD-10 for depression and dementia, the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the Hamilton Depression rating scale 17-items and the Mini-Mental-State Examination (MMSE), interviewed each patient or control subject.
Key findings
- The sensitivity and specificity, and the convergent and criterion validity of the two scales as well as the inter-rater reliability of the CSDD are reported.
- Two independent clinicians using the ICD-10 for depression and dementia, the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the Hamilton Depression rating scale 17-items and the Mini-Mental-State Examination (MMSE), interviewed each patient or control subject.
- One hundred forty-five persons of 65 years or more of age were included, 73 were depressed only, 36 depressed and demented; 36 persons were control subjects, 11 of these were demented.
- The inter-rater reliabilities were high or very high equalling perfect correlation.
Why it matters
This study checked how well two depression rating scales, the Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia, detect depression in older people. It is about assessing mood in dementia care, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Participants36
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 45 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 47 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Nordic journal of psychiatry) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Nordic Journal of Psychiatry: journal h-index 88 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2006 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 36 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 292 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 13.3 citations a year over 22 year(s) since 2006 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 4 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 2 / 4 | Cited 31 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | OpenAlex's profile for last-listed author Karen Marie Kjeldgaard holds only 4 work(s), too few to judge a track record — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Copenhagen University Hospital: institution h-index 787 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | PubMed indexes it as a multicentre study |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 17050293) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 45 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 45 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 47 out of 100. |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
May need a subscription OpenAlex found no free copy of the full text (checked 6 Feb 1020), so the publisher may charge for it. The PubMed abstract is free.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Kørner, A., Lauritzen, L., Abelskov, K., Gulmann, N., Marie Brodersen, A., Wedervang-Jensen, T., et al. (2006). The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. A validity study. Nordic journal of psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1080/08039480600937066
Vancouver
Kørner A, Lauritzen L, Abelskov K, Gulmann N, Marie Brodersen A, Wedervang-Jensen T, et al. The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. A validity study. Nordic journal of psychiatry. 2006. doi:10.1080/08039480600937066. PMID: 17050293.
BibTeX
@article{korner2006-17050293,
author = {Kørner, A. and Lauritzen, L. and Abelskov, K. and Gulmann, N. and Marie Brodersen, A. and Wedervang-Jensen, T. and Marie Kjeldgaard, K.},
title = {{The Geriatric Depression Scale and the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. A validity study}},
journal = {Nordic journal of psychiatry},
year = {2006},
doi = {10.1080/08039480600937066},
pmid = {17050293},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/08039480600937066}
}
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