Reliability of the Turkish version of the hospital anxiety and depression scale in the people with traumatic spinal cord injury

BACKGROUND: Emotional problems are common in spinal cord injury (SCI). Self report questionnaires are easy and useful for screening the emotional status in clinical practice. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the reliability of the Turkish version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) as well as to investigate the frequency of anxiety and depression in a group with SCI admitted to the outpatient clinic of a rehabilitation hospital. METHODS: One hundred seventy-five persons with traumatic SCI were included in this study. The American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and HADS were used for assessments. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 35 +/- 13 years, and the mean time elapsed since injury was 13 +/- 29 months. The mean motor FIM score was 41 +/-21. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.90 and 0.77 for the anxiety and depression subscales of the HADS, respectively. Forty percent of the participants had anxiety and 28% had depression. Anxietywas positively correlated with time since injury (r = 0.2). Depression was negatively correlated with the education level (r = 0.25), and positively correlated with age (r = 0.17). There was a positive correlation with completeness and anxiety and depression (r = 0.49, r = 0.55). CONCLUSION: The Turkish version of the HADS is a reliable psychological screening test for anxiety and depression in people with SCI. Rehabilitation team should gather maximum information about the emotional status of the person with SCI, and plan the appropriate treatment for anxiety and depression.