Proposed Factor Structure of the Geriatric Depression Scale

• DOI: 10.1017/s1041610291000480
• Publication Date: 2004-03-10T10:26:40Z
• Authors: Javaid I. Sheikh; Jerome A. Yesavage; John O. Brooks; Leah Friedman; Peter Gratzinger; Robert D. Hill; Anastasia Zadeik; Thomas Crook
• Keywords: Varimax rotation; Geriatric Depression Scale; Depression

The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is commonly used to measure depression in the elderly. However, there have been no reports of underlying structure GDS. To this end, GDS was administered 326 community-dwelling elderly subjects, and data were subjected a factor analysis. A five-factor solution selected and, after varimax rotation, factors that emerged could be described as: (1) sad mood, (2) lack energy, (3) positive (4) agitation, (5) social withdrawal. This accounted for 42.9% variance. Knowledge should aid both clinicians researchers interpretation responses on