Zung scale factor invariance in male coronary patients and healthy people

Validación de constructo de la escala Zung en pacientes con falla cardíaca

Introducción: La escala Zung para depresión ha sido previamente utilizada en pacientes con falla cardíaca; sin embargo, en nuestro conocimiento no se encuentra evidencia de su validez para la versión en español y su uso en población adulta con falla cardíaca en Colombia. Objetivo: Determinar la validez de constructo de la escala Zung para depresión en su versión original y proponer una versión abreviada para pacientes adultos con falla cardíaca. Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de corte transversal, realizado en 200 pacientes de una clínica de falla y trasplante cardiaco, en quienes se aplicó Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale. Se evaluó la consistencia interna por medio del alfa de Cronbach y el  análisis factorial fue utilizado para identificar las dimensiones del instrumento. Resultados: La consistencia interna de la versión original de la escala (20 ítems) fue de α=0.811. El análisis de factores mostró una estructura compuesta por tres factores que explican el 51.59% de la varianza total. La nueva versión abreviada (13 ítems) obtuvo un α=0.819 y los ítems correlacionaron con un único factor que explicó el 33.54% de la varianza total. Discusión: Nuestros hallazgos son similares a los encontrados por otros autores en diferentes poblaciones a la estudiada. Conclusiones: Se evidenció validez de constructo tanto para la escala Zung para depresión en su versión original como para la abreviada creada en la población estudiada. Sin embargo, se requieren estudios adicionales que verifiquen estos hallazgos en una muestra representativa y que otros aspectos de la psicometría sean evaluados.

Association of Excessive Daytime Sleepiness with the Zung Self-Rated Depression Subscales in Adults with Coronary Artery Disease and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is a factor associated with both obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and depressive symptoms. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment may decrease EDS in adults with OSA; however, the modulatory role of depressive symptoms on the improvement of EDS is not known. We aimed to explore the association between subscales of the Zung Self-rated Depression Scale (SDS) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) over a 2-year period in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with OSA. This was a post-hoc analysis of the RICCADSA cohort, in which 399 adults with CAD (155 sleepy OSA [apnea-hypopnea index ≥ 15/h] and ESS score ≥ 10, who were offered CPAP; and 244 nonsleepy OSA [ESS < 10]), randomized to CPAP [n = 122] or no-CPAP [n = 122]) were included. Three factors were extracted from the Zung SDS, based on the principal component analysis: F1, cognitive symptoms and anhedonia; F2, negative mood; and F3, appetite. In a mixed model, the ESS score decreased by 3.4 points (p < 0.001) among the sleepy OSA phenotype, which was predicted by the decline in the F2, but not in the F1 and F3 scores. The fixed effects of time were not significant in the nonsleepy OSA groups, and thus, further analyses were not applicable. Additional within-group analyses showed a significant decrease in all subscales over time both in the sleepy and nonsleepy OSA patients on CPAP whereas there was a significant increase in the nonsleepy OSA group randomized to no-CPAP. We conclude that the improvement in negative mood symptoms of depression, but not changes in cognitive symptoms and anhedonia as well as appetite, was a significant predictor of decline in the ESS scores over a 2-year period in this CAD cohort with sleepy OSA on CPAP treatment.

Assessing Mental Health for China's Police: Psychometric Features of the Self-Rating Depression Scale and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised

Police mental health is important because police officers usually encounter stressors that cause high levels of stress. In order to better understand mental health for Chinese police, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) are commonly used in mainland China. Unfortunately, both the SDS and SCL-90-R lack detailed information on their psychometric properties. More specifically, factor structures of the SDS and SCL-90-R have yet to be confirmed among the police population in mainland China. Therefore, the present study compared several factor structures of the SDS and SCL-90-R proposed by prior research and to determine an appropriate structure for the police population. Utilizing cluster sampling, 1151 traffic police officers (1047 males; mean age = 36.6 years [SD = 6.10]) from 49 traffic police units in Jiangxi Province (China) participated in this study. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with Akaike information criterion (AIC) was used to decide the best fit structure. In the SDS, the three-factor model (first posited by Kitamura et al.) had the smallest AIC and outperformed other models. In the SCL-90-R, the eight-factor model had the smallest AIC and outperformed the one-factor and nine-factor models. CFA fit indices also showed that both the three-factor model in the SDS and the eight-factor model in the SCL-90-R had satisfactory fit. The present study's results support the use of both SDS and SCL-90-R for police officers in mainland China.