92 G.M. Williams & A.P. Smith
results. Other studies examining very brief scales of depression have also found
very similar results, for example 82.1% sensitivity and 80.4% specificity (Kroenke
et al., 2003), and while others have found sensitivity as high as 96%, specificity
falls to 57% (Whooley et al., 1997). However, when comparing these studies it
should also be noted that they used a two-item scale rather than a single-item
scale and compared to alternative methods other than the HADS. The comparison
of the anxiety subscale of the HADS and the single-item anxiety measure also
demonstrate that a similar level of performance can be found for this approach to
anxiety measurement, although sensitivity is slightly higher while specificity is
slightly ...