Using the minimum data set 2.0 mood disturbance items as a self-report screening instrument for depression in nursing home residents.

Seeking to enhance nursing home residents' involvement in their care, the authors examined whether the Minimum Data Set, Version 2.0 (MDS) Mood Disturbance items could be administered by self-report. They compared the MDS to the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) in terms of its association with depression diagnosis. Subjects (N=204) were nursing home residents who were interviewed with a psychiatric diagnostic instrument, the GDS, and a self-report version of the MDS mood disturbance items. Analyses of variance and receiver operating characteristics analyses demonstrated that MDS items distinguished subjects with any versus no depression about as well as did the GDS. This pattern held within cognitive, gender, and ethnicity subgroups. The MDS Mood Disturbance items can be reliably and validly administered via self-report to persons scoring at least 12 on the Mini-Mental State Exam.