Title of Assessment
Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)
Author(s)
J. A. Yesavage
Year of Publication/Publisher
1982
J. A. Yesavage
Identify Type of Assessment
standardized
questionnaire
norm-referenced
Cost (identify source) & How to Access Assessment (include link if possible)
Free
Long-form
short-form
Population (who it is appropriate for [age, diagnosis, etc.])
65+
brain injury, Parkinson's disease, neurocognitive disorders, stroke recovery, and older adult and geriatric non-specific patient populations.
any geriatric individual who may be at risk for depression or experiencing signs and symptoms of depression
Appropriate Settings (potential practice settings appropriate to administer assessment in)
primary care, long-term acute care, rehabilitation hospitals, community-based settings, home health
Purpose of Assessment & Function(s)/Area(s) Assessed
This assessment provides insight and assesses an individual's level of depression and the ideation of suicide in elderly individuals of varying diagnoses.
Administration (time to administer, group/individual, if there are subtests, can they be completed individually, are there specific instructions to ensure standardization, etc.) \
all questions selected from a pool of 100 questions
GDS-L= 5-10 minutes. 30 yes/no questions that are self-reported by the individual taking the assessment
GDS-S= 5-7 minutes. 15 yes/no questions that are self-reported by the individual taking the assessment
User Qualifications
no qualifications or training required
Materials Required
online database to take assessment (phone, computer, etc.
Scoring Procedure (how is assessment scored and what does score indicate)
Individuals receive a single point for every “incorrect” response they give based on the scoring charts. When taking the 30-question GDS-L, a score of 11 or above indicates depression. These scores are categorized as:
Normal= <10
Mild= 10-19
Moderate-Severe= 20-30
GDS-15: <5= normal, >5= mild, >10= moderate-severe
Psychometrics/Standardization (norms, reliability/validity studies)
The GDS has a high degree of reliability and validity when its values are compared to the criteria found in the DSM-5
Strengths & Weaknesses of Assessment
strength
free and easily accessible
translated to many languages
no required materials
weaknesses
participants may not be truthful in their responses
References
Durmaz, B., Soysal, P., Ellidokuz, H., & Isik, A. T. (2018, September). Validity and reliability of Geriatric Depression scale-15 (short form) in Turkish older adults. Northern clinics of Istanbul. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6323561/
The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). HIGN. (n.d.). https://hign.org/consultgeri/try-this-series/geriatric-depression-scale-gds
Geriatric depression scale. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. (n.d.). https://www.sralab.org/rehabilitation-measures/geriatric-depression-scale