Demographic characteristics do not decrease the utility of depressive symptoms assessments: examining the practical impact of item bias in four heterogeneous samples of older adults.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Previous studies have identified differential item function (DIF) in depressive symptoms measures, but the impact of DIF has been rarely reported. Given the critical importance of depressive symptoms assessment among older adults, we examined whether DIF due to demographic characteristics resulted in salient score changes in commonly used measures.

Methods

Four longitudinal studies of cognitive aging provided a sample size of 3754 older adults and included individuals both with and without a clinical diagnosis of major depression. Each study administered at least one of the following measures: the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (20-item ordinal response or 10-item dichotomous response versions), the Geriatric Depression Scale, and the Montgomery-

SUBMITTER: Dmitrieva NO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4198512 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature