The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, abbreviated as HDRS, HRSD or HAM-D, measures depression in people before, during and after treatment. A depression rating scale is a psychiatric measurement instrument that has descriptive words and phrases that indicate the severity of depression over a period of time. When used, an observer can make judgments and rate a person at a specific scale level with respect to the characteristics identified. Instead of being used to diagnose depression, a depression assessment scale can be used to assign a score to a person's behavior, where that score can be used to determine if that person should be further evaluated for the diagnosis of a depressive disorder.
For this purpose, several rating scales are used. The BDI is considered to be the most widely considered and used self-report rating scale for depression. Aaron Beck created the Beck Depression Inventory scales in 1961 to assess change in patients undergoing psychoanalysis. Focuses on the patient's thoughts and experiences.
Over time, modifications were made, creating a version more consistent with the cognitive-behavioral theory of BDI-II. The questionnaire consisted of items on the examination of the percentage of patients clinically using depression rating scales, the reasons for not using them, the degree of satisfaction, the perceived concordance rate between the outcome of the depression rating scales and the clinical interview with the doctor in the evaluation of patients with depressive symptoms. If it is below 50%, they were asked to directly describe why they do not use scales in clinical practice. In other words, the objectives of the present study were to investigate the frequency and reason for not using, the degree of perceived satisfaction with the currently available depression rating scales, and the perceived concordance between subjective clinical interviews and depressive measures.
When researchers use depression rating scales, they can make judgments and rate a patient based on a specific scale, taking into account the characteristics observed. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was developed specifically for use in geriatric populations, originally as a 30-item scale. At the macroanalytical level, it is appropriate to discuss depression rating scales such as HAM-D in comparison with a system for diagnosing mental disorders such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed (DSM-IV) 3, while at the microanalytical level a direct comparison between Dr. The Gestalt and Dr.
Scales are relevant. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the current use of measures of depression in the clinical setting in Korea. The clinical use of depression rating scales was more frequent in psychologists than in psychiatrists. Among the domestic and foreign depression rating scales, including those standardized and non-standardized in Korea, it was noted that the types of depression rating scales currently used in the field of clinical practice are not diverse.
This depression rating scale includes a 27-item screening questionnaire and a follow-up clinical interview designed to facilitate the diagnosis of common mental disorders in primary care. A working committee composed of four psychiatrists, two clinical psychologists and a medical statistician was organized to draft the questionnaire after reviewing the depression assessment scales used in Korea. We hope that this research will be basic research to invent the Korean standardized diagnosis and rating scales for depression in the future. The use of a self-assessment version of HAM-D has focused on translation procedures when preparing non-English versions of the scale.
Designed by psychiatrist Max Hamilton in 1960, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale is one of the two most used among those completed by researchers evaluating the effects of pharmacotherapy. .
