Ekhlas Al-Gamal
King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Saudi Arabia
Title: Testing the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in Arabic patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Biography
Biography: Ekhlas Al-Gamal
Abstract
The aim of this study was to develop the Arabic version of Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (A-HADS) and test its reliability and validity for the assessment of anxiety and depression in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). There is evidence that patients with COPD suffered from anxiety and depression. A valid and reliable tool can help clinicians and researchers to assess anxiety and depression in such group in order to provide appropriate screening and interventions. The A-HADS and Quality of Life Index pulmonary version (QLI-P) were completed by 67 Jordanian patients with COPD. Internal consistency reliability and construct validity were calculated. The Arabic version of the HADS was found to be acceptable to assess anxiety and depression in patients with COPD. Cronbach's alpha coefficient has been found to be 0.75, for the A-HADS anxiety sub-scale and 0.82 for the A-HADS depression sub-scale. A-HADS scores correlated significantly with QLI-P and demonstrated good construct validity. This preliminary validation study supports the A-HADS as a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of anxiety and depression in Arabic speaking patients with COPD.