Abstract
Objective
To create a Lebanese Depression Scale (LDS) and evaluate its performance on a group of Lebanese individuals.
Methods
This cross‐sectional analysis enrolled 997 residents (January‐December 2018).
Results
The elements in the Lebanese Depression Scale‐19 items (LDS‐19) scale converged over a combination of four factors (α
Cronbach = .864). The correlation was positive between the LDS‐19 and both the Hamilton Anxiety Scale score (r = .637; P < .001) and Lebanese Anxiety Scale score (r = .694; P < .001). According to the receiver‐operating characteristics curve, the optimal score for the LDS‐19 scale, which was a cutoff between healthy controls and depressive patients, was 18.50 (80.3% and 75.8%, respectively); the scale’s positive predictive value was 31.0%, while the negative predictive value was 96.5%.
Practice Implications
The LDS‐19 is a useful tool to screen for depression in the Lebanese population, in both clinical and research settings.