Anxiety and depression in the general population in Colombia: reference values of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

Purpose The objective of this study was to generate normative values and to test psychometric properties of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for the general population of Colombia. While there are several normative studies in Europe, Latin American normative values are missing. The identification of people with mental distress requires norms obtained for the specific country. Methods A representative face-to-face household study (n = 1,500) was conducted in 2012. The survey questionnaire contained the HADS, several other questionnaires, and sociodemographic variables. Results HADS mean values (anxiety: M = 4.61 +/- 3.64, depression: M = 4.30 +/- 3.91) were similar to those reported from European studies. Females were more anxious and depressed than males. The depression scale showed a nearly linear age dependency with increasing scores for old people. Mean scores and percentiles (75 and 90 %) are presented for each age decade for both genders. Both anxiety and depression correlated significantly with the total score of the multidimensional fatigue inventory and with the mental component summary score of the quality of life questionnaire SF-8. Internal consistency coefficients of both scales were satisfying, but confirmatory factorial analysis results only partially supported the two-dimensional structure of the questionnaire. Conclusion This study supports the reliability of the HADS in one Latin American country. The normative scores can be used to compare a patient's score with those derived from a reference group. However, the generalizability to other Latin American regions requires further research.