Withdrawal, apathy and lack of vigor in late life depression : factorial validity and relationship to diagnosis

Document Type

Journal article

Source Publication

Aging & Mental Health

Publication Date

9-1-2007

Volume

11

Issue

5

First Page

532

Last Page

537

Abstract

Withdrawal, apathy and lack of vigor (WAV) describe a pattern of lack of vitality and dropping of interests and activities in later life, which may or may not indicate depression. This study examines (a) whether the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) contains a measure of this symptom cluster, and if so, (b) whether the presence of WAV leads to more false positive predictions by the GDS. A total of 444 Chinese older persons responded to the GDS and the Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE), and were independently assessed by psychiatrists for depression and other diagnoses. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that six WAV symptoms formed a distinct cluster on the GDS. WAV was positively correlated with age and MMSE but most other symptom clusters measured on the GDS were not. Nonetheless, the ROC curves were essentially the same, regardless of whether the WAV items were included or not. Further analysis revealed that the optimal cutoff for the GDS without WAV produced fewer false positives, but also missed more true cases, than the full scale. The extent to which false positives become an issue depends on the specific threshold chosen (which entails a tradeoff with sensitivity) rather than the presence of WAV items.

DOI

10.1080/13607860601086447

Print ISSN

13607863

E-ISSN

13646915

Publisher Statement

Copyright © 2007 Taylor & Francis

Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.

Full-text Version

Publisher’s Version

Language

English

Recommended Citation

Cheng, S.-T., & Chan, A. C. M. (2007). Withdrawal, apathy and lack of vigor in late life depression: Factorial validity and relationship to diagnosis. Aging & Mental Health, 11(5), 532-537. doi: 10.1080/13607860601086447

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