TY - JOUR A2 - van Marwijk, Harm W. J. AU - Ceccarini, M. AU - Manzoni, G. M. AU - Castelnuovo, G. PY - 2014 DA - 2014/02/06 TI - Assessing Depression in Cardiac Patients: What Measures Should Be Considered? SP - 148256 VL - 2014 AB - It is highly recommended to promptly assess depression in heart disease patients as it represents a crucial risk factor which may result in premature deaths following acute cardiac events and a more severe psychopathology, even in cases of subsequent nonfatal cardiac events. Patients and professionals often underestimate or misjudge depressive symptomatology as cardiac symptoms; hence, quick, reliable, and early mood changes assessments are warranted. Failing to detect depressive signals may have detrimental effects on these patients’ wellbeing and full recovery. Choosing gold-standard depression investigations in cardiac patients that fit a hospitalised cardiac setting well is fundamental. This paper will examine eight well established tools following Italian and international guidelines on mood disorders diagnosis in cardiac patients: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Cognitive Behavioural Assessment Hospital Form (CBA-H), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the two and nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2, PHQ-9), the Depression Interview and Structured Hamilton (DISH), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D/HRSD), and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI). Though their strengths and weaknesses may appear to be homogeneous, the BDI-II and the PHQ are more efficient towards an early depression assessment within cardiac hospitalised patients. SN - 2090-1321 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/148256 DO - 10.1155/2014/148256 JF - Depression Research and Treatment PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -