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Comparative Study
. 2017 Jan-Mar;39(1):29-33.
doi: 10.1590/2237-6089-2016-0056.

A proposal for a new Brazilian six-item version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

Maicon Rodrigues Albuquerque  1   2 , Humberto Corrêa  2   3   4 , Tiago Castro E Couto  3 , Wallace Santos  5 , Marco Aurelio Romano-Silva  2   3   4 , Leonor Maria Pacheco Santos  5   6
Affiliations
Free article
Comparative Study

A proposal for a new Brazilian six-item version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

Maicon Rodrigues Albuquerque et al. Trends Psychiatry Psychother. 2017 Jan-Mar.
Free article

Abstract

Introduction:: Factor analysis of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) could result in a shorter and easier to handle screening tool. Therefore, the aim of this study was to check and compare the metrics of two different 6-item EPDS subscales.

Methods:: We administered the EPDS to a total of 3,891 women who had given birth between 1 and 3 months previously. We conducted confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses and plotted receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curves to, respectively, determine construct validity, scale items' fit to the data, and ideal cutoff scores for the short versions.

Results:: A previously defined 6-item scale did not exhibit construct validity for our sample. Nevertheless, we used exploratory factor analysis to derive a new 6-item scale with very good construct validity. The area under the ROC curve of the new 6-item scale was 0.986 and the ideal cutoff score was ≥ 6.

Conclusions:: The new 6-item scale has adequate psychometric properties and similar ROC curve values to the10-item version and offers a means of reducing the cost and time taken to administer the instrument.

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