The purpose of this study was to assess the utility of the Korean version of the World Health Organization Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) in evaluating geriatric depression and quality of life as compared to the widely used Short Geriatric Depression Scale of Korean version (SGDS-K).
Two hundred and forty four elderly people (>60-years-of-age) living in the Yanggu and Inje areas of Gangwon Province, Korea, were interviewed and responded to scales including WHO-5, SGDS-K, Mini Mental Status Examination in the Korean version of the CERAD assessment packet (MMSE-KC), and Geriatric Quality of Life-Dementia (GQOL-D). A total WHO-5 score < 13 indicated low well-being.
The SGDS-K score showed a reverse correlation with the WHO-5, MMSE-KC, and GQOL-D scores. The WHO-5 score reversely correlated with the SGDS-K score and positively correlated with GQOL-D, but showed no significant correlation with MMSE-KC score. Subjects ranked as having poor well-being (WHO-5 score < 13) had a significantly lower GQOL-D score and a significantly higher SGDS-K score. In multiple regression analysis, WHO-5 was significantly associated with GQOL-D and SGDS-K.
The Korean version of WHO-5 is useful in evaluating both depressive symptoms and quality of life of community-dwelling elderly.