The HADS is a self-report rating scale of 14 items on a 4-point Likert scale (range 0–3). It is designed to measure anxiety and depression (7 items for each subscale). The total score is the sum of the 14 items, and for each subscale the score is the sum of the respective seven items (ranging from 0–21). It is worth noting that items referring to depression symptoms that describe somatic aspects of depression (e.g. insomnia and weight loss) are not included in the scale. The Greek translation by 'nFer Nelson Publishing' (The Chiswick Centre, 414 Chiswick High Road, London, UK) was used with permission.
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to measure depression. It is designed to examine both somatic and cognitive aspects of depression. The BDI is a 21-item self-reporting scale that has been used, apart from its original purpose (assessment of the severity of known depression), for screening purposes. The Greek version has been translated and validated previously [20 ] and has been widely used to date.
The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)[21 ] developed by Spielberger is used to measure anxiety. It is a 40-item scale made up of two 20-item subscales (one state and one trait), and has been widely used to asses anxiety not only in clinical but in non-clinical samples. The STAI (Form X) has been translated and validated in Greek [22 ]. The BDI and STAI were administered to patients only.
All of the scales used are self-rated and were administered by five of the researchers. The aim was that the examiners would interfere as little as possible in the patient's completion of the scales. For homogeneity of the results, the scoring of the scales was performed by only one of the researchers.
Free full text: Click here