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ABSTRACTBackground:Older Chinese people are one of the largest and fastest growing immigrant groups in Western countries. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) are screening tools that have been specifically designed for older people. This study explored their validity, concurrent reliability, and cultural appropriateness for detecting depression and anxiety symptoms among older Chinese immigrants living in Melbourne, Australia., Methods: A total of 87 Chinese people were recruited from Chinese senior groups. Five screening tools were used, including the GDS, the GAI, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Kessler 10 (K10), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Data were collected through standardized interviews., Results: The GDS and the GAI were found to be reliable and valid tools for detecting depression and anxiety in this sample. Based on the results of the five screening tools, approximately 20% of participants exhibited clinically significant symptoms of depression and 8% of anxiety. Unexpectedly, there was a higher rate of depression and anxiety symptoms among Mandarin speaking people compared with Cantonese speaking people., Conclusion: This study adds to the evidence that older Chinese immigrants are at greater risk of depression than the general older population. It suggests that primary care and mental health services should be aware of and responsive to the increased risk of depression among this group and that further studies are needed to investigate what is contributing to this increased risk.

Aim: The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of depression and anxiety among older immigrant Chinese Australians., Methods: The study was based on the National Ageing Research Institute's Cultural Exchange Model, an iterative process of exchange between researchers and stakeholders. The project involved a range of components including consultations with health professionals and community workers about perceptions of depression and anxiety within the Chinese community. This paper reports on these consultation findings., Results: Thematic analysis generated five main categories to explain participants' perceptions of depression and anxiety within the Chinese community. Themes included: lack of knowledge; personal weakness rather than illness; stigma; somatisation; and experience of migration in later life. Responses to questions about education and information dissemination were collated separately and reported., Conclusion: Views of depression and anxiety among older Chinese people suggest that educating the community may be an important way to improve mental health literacy and help-seeking behaviour., (© 2016 AJA Inc.)

Background: Depression and anxiety are two common mental health problems among older people. There is evidence that using well-validated screening tools can improve detection of depression and anxiety among this group. The review explored the use of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) for screening depression and anxiety among older Chinese immigrants, one of the largest and fastest growing groups of older immigrants in Western society. It focused on the GDS and GAI because both are designed specifically for older people., Methods: Online literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. A narrative approach was used to review included papers., Results: A total of 21 articles were included. There were limited data on anxiety among older Chinese immigrants, with only one unpublished report identified. There were 13 studies (20 articles) using the GDS with this group. Results of these studies indicated that the GDS is a reliable tool in this population; however, there was limited validity data. Two versions of the GDS-15 have been used with older Chinese immigrants, including the standard GDS-15 and Mui's GDS-15. Prevalence of depression ranged between 20% and 30% in most reviewed studies., Discussion: Results of this review have practical implications for clinicians in their use of these tools with older Chinese immigrants in Western countries, such as the different GDS versions. It also suggests a number of directions for future research, such as the inclusion of clinical samples and consideration of the diversity within this group., (© 2015 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)