Validation of the Geriatric Depression Scale-15 short form into Vietnamese

Abstract

The study aims to validate the Geriatric Depression Scale-short form (GDS-15).  The results showed that 4 factors represented 56.984% of the variance. Factor loadings range from 0.496 to 0.805. Cronbach Alpha coefficient of each factor of the Vietnamese version of the GDS-15 scale: Factor 1 "sad mood" Cronbach Alpha coefficient is 0.759 (>0.6); Factor 2 "positive mood" Cronbach Alpha coefficient is 0.767 (>0.6). Factors 3 and 4: "poor awareness and social alienation" include items 10, 2, 9,15 with Cronbach Alpha coefficient of 0.439 (< 0.6) and all observed variables have the same coefficient. The corrected item-total correlation is less than 0.3. Thus, the observed variables do not explain factors 3 and 4 "poor awareness and social alienation". The GDS-15 scale should not be used as a sole scale to screen for depression in the elderly.