O A Abiodun

Bio: O A Abiodun is an academic researcher from University of Ilorin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medical prescription & Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 2 publications receiving 234 citations.

A validity study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in general hospital units and a community sample in Nigeria.

Abstract: BACKGROUND The utility of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as a screening instrument for anxiety and depressive disorders in non-psychiatric units (medical & surgical wards; gynaecology & antenatal clinics of a teaching hospital) and a community sample in Nigeria was investigated. METHOD A two-stage screening procedure was employed. This involved the use of GHQ-12/GHQ-30 and HADS against the criteria of a standardised (PSE schedule) psychiatric interview, with psychiatric diagnosis assigned in accordance with ICD-9 criteria. RESULTS Sensitivity for the anxiety sub-scale ranged from 85.0% in the medical and surgical wards to 92.9% in the ante-natal clinic, while sensitivity for the depression sub-scale ranged from 89.5% in the community sample to 92.1% in the gynaecology clinic. Specificity for the anxiety sub-scale ranged from 86.5% in the gynaecology clinic to 90.6% in the community sample, while specificity for the depression sub-scale ranged from 86.6% in the medical and surgical wards to 91.1% in the ante-natal clinic and community sample. Misclassification rates ranged from 9.9% in the community sample to 13.2% in the medical and surgical wards. Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses showed the HADS and the GHQ-12 to be quite similar in ability to discriminate between cases (anxiety and depression) and non-cases. CONCLUSIONS The HADS is valid for use as a screening instrument in non-psychiatric units and although initially developed for use in hospital settings, it could be usefully employed in community settings of developing countries to screen for mental morbidity.

Psychotropic drug use in medical and surgical wards of a teaching hospital in northern Nigeria.

Abstract: The overall prescription rate of psychotropic drugs in a Nigerian teaching hospital was 33.1%. This was slightly higher among surgical than medical patients. It is suggested that more attention needs to be paid to psychotropic drug education in developing countries in order to ensure a more rational use of these drugs.

The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care

Abstract: Background. In recent years the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) has been extensively used as a short screening instrument, producing results that are comparable to longer versions of the GHQ.Methods. The validity of the GHQ-12 was compared with the GHQ-28 in a World Health Organization study of psychological disorders in general health care. Results are presented for 5438 patients interviewed in 15 centres using the primary care version of the Composite International Diagnostic Instrument, or CIDI-PC.Results. Results were uniformly good, with the average area under the ROC curve 88, range from 83 to 95. Minor variations in the criteria used for defining a case made little difference to the validity of the GHQ, and complex scoring methods offered no advantages over simpler ones. The GHQ was translated into 10 other languages for the purposes of this study, and validity coefficients were almost as high as in the original language. There was no tendency for the GHQ to work less efficiently in developing countries. Finally gender, age and educational level are shown to have no significant effect on the validity of the GHQ.Conclusions. If investigators wish to use a screening instrument as a case detector, the shorter GHQ is remarkably robust and works as well as the longer instrument. The latter should only be preferred if there is an interest in the scaled scores provided in addition to the total score.

Detecting psychological distress in cancer patients: validity of the Italian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale

Abstract: The psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and its utility as a screening instrument for anxiety and depression in a non-psychiatric setting were evaluated. The questionnaire was administered twice to 197 breast cancer patients randomised in a phase III adjuvant clinical trial: before the start of chemotherapy and at the first follow-up visit. The presence of psychiatric disorders was evaluated at the follow-up visit using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R in 132 patients. Factor analyses identified two strictly correlated factors. Crohnbach's alpha for the anxiety and depression scales ranged between 0.80 and 0.85. At follow-up, 50 patients (38%) were assigned a current DSM-III-R diagnosis, in most cases adjustment disorders (24%) or major depressive disorder (10%). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to test the discriminant validity for both anxiety and depressive disorders. The comparison of the areas under the curve (AUC) between the two scales did not show any difference in identifying either anxiety (P=0.855) or depressive disorders (P=0.357). The 14-item total scale showed a high internal consistency (alpha=0.89 and 0.88) and a high discriminating power for all the psychiatric disorders (AUC=0.89; 95% CI=0.83–0.94). The cut-off point that maximised sensitivity (84%) and specificity (79%) was 10. These results suggest that the total score is a valid measure of emotional distress, so that the Italian version of HADS can be used as a screening questionnaire for psychiatric disorders. The use of the two subscales as a 'case identifier' or as an outcome measure should be considered with caution.