Beck Depression Inventory as a screening tool for depression in chronic haemodialysis patients

Objectives: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Cognitive Depression Index (CDI) as a potential screening tool for major depression in haemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: Forty-five HD patients completed both the BDI/CDI and diagnostic interview. The interview was conducted by two experienced clinicians and was based on DSM-IV criteria. The sensitivity, specificity and positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values were then calculated. Results: A diagnosis of depression was found in 6 of the 45 participants (13.3%). Optimal cut-offs were 18 for the BDI (sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.90, PPV 0.60, NPV 1.0) and 11 for the CDI (sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.92, PPV 0.67, NPV 1.0). Conclusions: Both the BDI and CDI were shown to be acceptable screening tools for depression in this population of chronic HD patients. The recommended cut-off scores for both scales are higher than those suggested for the general population and slightly higher than previously found in the chronic kidney disease literature, suggesting that altered thresholds are required when using these screening tools amongst HD patients.