Comparing the Use of the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire and Beck Depression Inventory for Screening Depression in Patients with Chronic Pain

Background: Studies have shown that the validity of self-reported depression question-naires may be influenced by somatic symptoms such as chronic pain. The purpose of this study was to compare the validity of two self-reported ques-tionnaires, the Taiwanese Depression Questionnaire (TDQ) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), for screening depression in patients with chron-ic pain. Methods: One hundred patients with chronic pain were enrolled and assessed using the TDQ, BDI, McGill Pain Questionnaire, and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. Seventy-three of them were diagnosed with depressive disor-ders. Conventional validity indices of the TDQ and BDI were examined and compared. Results: Both the TDQ and BDI had satisfactory sensitivity, specificity, positive pre-dictive value, and negative predictive value. Our results showed a trend that the validity of the TDQ was better than that of the BDI, and the validity of the cognitive/affective components of the TDQ was significantly better than that of the BDI. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the TDQ is superior to the BDI in detecting depres-sion in patients with chronic pain in Taiwan. (Chang Gung Med J 2008;31:369-77