Abstract

ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND :
Beck Depression Inventory (often abbreviated asBDI) is an instrument to measure the severity and depth ofdepression symptoms. BDI was developed in a novel way for its time by collating patients' verbatim descriptions of their symptoms and using these to construct a scale which could reflect the intensity or severity of a givensymptom.
OBJECTIVE:
To measure the validity of Beck depression Inventory short version using ICD 10 criteria for major depression as a gold standard
METHOD AND PATIENTS :
The study was carried out in IbnRushd and Baghdad Teaching Hospitals. The sample was selected purposely among patients diagnosed to have major depressive disorder according to the ICD- 10 criteria for major depressive disorder. For each patient a clinical interview was done using the ICD 10 criteria for major depressive episode after being given beck depression inventory – short version in a paper
RESULTS :
The overall result indicates ‘fair to good’ agreement between both Beck and ICD-10 suggesting that Beck Depression Inventory is valid in assessing the degree of severity of depression
CONCLUSION:
Beck Depression Inventory short version (13 item ) is adequate in assessing the severity of depression in patients with ICD-10 diagnosis of depression