Comparison of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for detecting depression in women with breast or gynecologic cancer

The HADS-D and CES-D have acceptable properties and are equivalent for detecting depression in this population. Depending on the purpose of screening, the CES-D may be more suitable for identifying major depression. Threshold choice may have serious implications for screening program effectiveness, and the use of generally recommended thresholds should be cautious.