Description

The Duke Anxiety-Depression Scale (DUKE-AD) is a self-report instrument designed to measure the presence and severity of anxiety and depression in individuals. It is a tool used in clinical and research settings to assess emotional distress, specifically focusing on symptoms of anxiety and depression. The DUKE-AD scale is part of the broader Duke Health Profile (DUKE), which measures various aspects of health, including physical, emotional, and social functioning.

Analysis and Data Usage

The DUKE-AD scale typically involves a series of questions that respondents answer based on their emotional state over a defined period (e.g., the past week). Each item is rated on a Likert scale, and the responses are summed to calculate an overall anxiety-depression score. The scale’s purpose is to capture both anxiety and depression symptoms, providing a quantitative measure that can be used for diagnosis, screening, and monitoring treatment outcomes.

For data analysis:

Data Collection: Gather responses from individuals using the DUKE-AD questionnaire. Ensure demographic and other relevant health data (such as age, gender, and medical history) are also collected to enrich the analysis.

Scoring: The responses are summed, and higher scores indicate more severe anxiety and depression symptoms.

Statistical Analysis:

Descriptive statistics (mean, median, mode) can provide an overview of the anxiety-depression scores across the sample.

Correlation analysis can determine if DUKE-AD scores are associated with other variables, such as physical health scores or demographic data.

Regression analysis may predict factors contributing to higher anxiety-depression levels.

Interpretation: Higher DUKE-AD scores suggest greater psychological distress, which could be used to recommend interventions or further psychological evaluation.

Calibration

Calibration refers to the process of ensuring that the scale accurately reflects the severity of anxiety and depression across different populations or subgroups. It can involve:

Reliability Testing: Ensuring the DUKE-AD scale provides consistent results over time (test-retest reliability) and across different items (internal consistency)

Validity Testing: Assessing whether the DUKE-AD scale truly measures anxiety and depression (construct validity) and whether it can distinguish between individuals with varying levels of these conditions (discriminant validity).

Bibliography

Parkerson, G.R., Broadhead, W.E., & Tse, C.K.J. (1990). The Duke Health Profile: A 17-item measure of health and dysfunction. Medical Care, 28(11), 1056-1072.

Broadhead, W.E., et al. (1993). The Duke Health Profile: Psychometric Testing of a New Instrument. Medical Care, 31(3), 277-283.

Parkerson, G.R., & Gehlbach, S.H. (1994). The Duke Health Profile (DUKE): A Self-Report Instrument for Measuring Health in Primary Care. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 47(4), 385-393.