Hamilton Depression Scale

We examined the data in a number of ways. One was to use the classification system established by the APA to categorize levels of depression. The APA system, which was also adopted by NICE, divides scores on the Hamilton depression scale into the following five categories ... 

How were the European regulators able to pull off the trick of turning a two-point difference on the Hamilton depression scale into a clinically significant benefit They did so by using a different criterion for improvement than the one we had used in our analysis of the clinical-trial data. We had analysed the average degree of improvement in symptoms that patients given antidepressants and... 

Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) 12. Hopkin Symptom Checklist (HSCL) X X... 

Carroll Rating Scale for Depression. The Carroll Rating Scale for depression (52-item self-rating scale) is scored with yes or no answers by patients. It was designed to match closely the information content and specific items included in the Hamilton rating scale. It has been vahdated by comparisons with both the Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Beck and requires approximately 20 minutes to complete. Seventeen components of depression are measured. 

Hamilton Depression Scale. The HAMD is one of the most widely used tests to evaluate the severity of depressive illness quantitatively in adults. The most widely used form of this test contains 21 items covering a broad range of symptomatology, with a three- to five-point scale for most items. The minimum time required to complete this test is usually 10 to 20 minutes, and it requires a skilled interviewer. Either the present time or the period within the last week is rated. Six subscales are obtained in the HAMD anxiety/somatization, weight, cognitive disturbance, diurnal variation, retardation, and sleep disturbance. 

Other data arise as scores. These are frequently as a result of the need to provide a measure of some clinical condition such as depression or anxiety. The Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) scale and the Hamilton Anxiety (HAM-A) scale provide measures in these cases. These scales contain distinct items which are scored individually and then the total score is obtained as the sum of the individual scores. For the Hamilton Depression scale there are usually 17 items depressed mood, self-depreciation and guilt feelings, etc., each scored on a three-point scale or on a five-point scale. The five-point scales are typically scores 0 = absent, 1 = doubtful to mild, 2 = mild to moderate, 3 = moderate to severe and 4 = very severe while the three-point scales are typically 0 = absent, 1 = probable or mild and 3 = definite. 

The primary endpoint in this trial was the 17 point Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD-17) and the data presented in Table 4.2 correspond to mean (se). 

So far, however, boundaries have not been established and, even worse, no systematic attempts to do so are noticed. This hampers biological psychiatry and may well be among the reasons that the search for biological markers of psychiatric disorders over the past 35 years has been remarkably unsuccessful. A concrete example may illustrate this point a score of at least 16-18 on the Hamilton Depression Scale (M. Hamilton 1960] is generally accepted as a criterion to include someone in a depression study. One could, however. 

Advances in Biological Psychiatry 17 58-69, 1988 Bech P Clinical properties of citalopram in comparison with other antidepressants a quantitative meta-analysis, in Citalopram The New Antidepressant from Lundbeck Research. Proceedings of a Symposium 11 August 1988. Edited by Montgomery SA. New York, Excerpta Medica, 1989, pp 56-68 Bech P, Bolwig TG, Kramp P, et al The Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Scale and the Hamilton Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand 59 420-430, 1979 Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, et al An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 4 561-571, 1961... 

Bech, P., Bolwig, T.G., Kramp, P., et al . The Bech-Rafaelsen Mania Scale and the Hamilton Depression Scale. Acta Psyciuatr. Scand. 59(4), 420-430, 1979. 

Bech, P., Allerup, P., Reisby, N., et al Assessment of symptom change from improvement curves on the Hamilton Depression Scale in trials with antidepressants. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 84, 276-281, 1984. 

One frequent point of confusion is whether a clinical rating scale/ such as the Hamilton Depression scale/ is a biomarker or a clinical endpoint. As these scales attempt to capture the multifaceted dimensions of a complex clinical condition/ they are in fact clinical endpoints. However/ they are like intermediate endpoints because they do not encompass all dimensions of the disease being evaluated or the therapeutic response in all patients. 

Health (NIMH) Workgroup WMS-R Visual Span Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test California Veibal Leammg Test Hamilton Depression Scale Speilberger State-Trait Arxiety Scale San Diego HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC) Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test... 

Staedr etal. (1991) assessed the effects of (+)-kavain on anxiety in 60 patients with tuberculosis or awaiting its diagnosis. The trial was a randomized, double blind placebo-controlled 12-week study. When evaluated on the Hamilton Depression Scale, patients receiving kavain showed statistically significant improvement compared to patients on placebo treatment. 

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