Validez de la escala breve de Zung para tamizaje del episodio depresivo mayor en la población general de Bucaramanga, Colombia.

INTRODUCTION: Brief scales for identiFying depressive disorder are as useful as long scales for screening. However, a validated scale with these characteristics is not avalaible in Colombia. OBJECTIVE: To design a brief Zung's self-rating depression scale in order to screen major depressive episodes among adults dwelling in the general community. MATERIALS AND METHODS: After filling-out the 20-item Zung's self-rating depression scale, the ten items with the higher correlation with total score were selected. Construct and criterion validity were computed for these ten items. RESULTS: The ten chosen items showed an internal consistency of 0.803, one factor that accounted for 36.6% of the variance; sensitivity was 95.5%; specificity, 70.3%; Cohen's kappa, 0.415; and area under receptor-operator curve, 0.898. CONCLUSIONS: The brief Zung's self-rating depression scale exhibits psychometric properties similar to the long version. This brief scale can be used as a screening device in the general population.