Depression in Chinese medical inpatients

The authors studied depressive symptoms among 251 Chinese medical inpatients through the use of the Beck Depression Inventory. Assessment of 100 healthy Chinese volunteers validated the use of American score norms for Chinese subjects. A total of 47.8% of the 251 medical inpatients (N = 120) met the Beck scale criterion for depression. Beck scale scores varied with the occupation of patients and the severity of medical illness but did not vary with sex, age, marital status, duration of hospitalization, or medical diagnosis.