Zung Depression Inventory

Synonyms

Zung depression rating scale (ZDRS); Zung depression scale; Zung self-assessment depression scale; Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS)

Definition

The Zung Depression Inventory (SDS) is a 20-item self-rating scale concerning affective, cognitive, behavioral, and somatic symptoms of depression (Zung, 1965). Half of the items are worded positively, half are phrased negatively. The scale was developed on the basis of the most commonly found diagnostic criteria of depression and patient interviews. Subjects rate each item according to how they felt during the preceding week. The response categories range from (1) “none or a little of the time” to (4) “most or all of the time.” The scale takes on average 5 min to complete. An index for the SDS is derived by summing the item scores. This summary score is then divided by a maximum possible score of 80. The SDS index ranges from 0.25 to 1. The following cutoffs are recommended by the author of the scale: Individuals with an index...