Telephone administration of the Yesavage depression scale in older adults: a proof-of-concept study

Introduction: You have at least 20% odds of experiencing depression sometime in your life. It is a condition that will probably affect your psychological and physical well-being. This worsens if you expect to be over 65 years old by 2030. Fortunately, depression can be treated, and the sooner, the better. Yet, the presence of depressive symptoms is not systematically assessed, leading to underdiagnosis and inadequate treatment Therefore, it is urgent to create easily applicable screening tools. This study compares the Yesavage depression scale administered for the first time via telephone with the traditional in-office administration. Methods: Older adults diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment were prospectively selected. The Yesavage test was administered in person and via telephone, and the association between both measures was calculated at baseline (T0). The procedure was repeated after 6 months (T1). Results: A total of 57 individuals were analyzed at T0, and 37 individuals were analyzed at T1. Correlation analysis showed statistically significant relationships between in-person and telephone administrations for both T0 (r = 0.78, p = 0.0000) and T1 (r = 0.77, p = 0.000). Conclusions: Our findings provide preliminary evidence supporting the Yesavage test as a useful, easy-to-implement tool for telephone-based depression screening in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.