A Chinese adaptation of six items, self-report Hamilton Depression Scale: Factor structure and psychometric properties
Abstract
Objectives The objective of this research was to verify the psychometric characteristics of the Chinese Adaptation of self-report HAMD-6.Methods Outpatients and inpatients who met the DSM-5 criterion for major depressive disorder (MDD) were evaluated by the Chinese self-report HAMD-6, seventeen items of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17), Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale (PHQ-9) and Improved Clinical Global Impression Scale (iCGI-S). The internal consistency reliability, retest reliability, criterion validity and construct validity of the Chinese self-report HAMD-6 were tested. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlativity between the total score and the item scores. By drawing the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curve, the best cut-off value, sensitivity and specificity of Chinese Adaptation self-report HAMD-6 were obtained.Results Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the Chinese self-report HAMD-6 was 0.91, and the intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC) of retest reliability was 0.81(P < 0.01). The Spearman correlation coefficients of the Chinese self-report HAMD-6, Chinese clinician version of HAMD-6, PHQ-9 and HAMD-17 were 0.86, 0.81 and 0.86, respectively (all P < 0.01). Results of the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a unidimensional construct. In addition, HAMD-17 ≤ 7 and iCGI-S= 1 were taken as the remission criteria for depression disorder, and the ROC curves of the Chinese self-report HAMD-6 were plotted with a cut-off value of 3/4, the specificity and sensitivity were 0.85/0.92 and 0.96/0.93 respectively.Conclusion These results suggested that the abbreviated Chinese self-report HAMD-6 has good reliability and validity among the Chinese population. This study suggested that the remission cut-off value of the scale is 3/4.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The Chinese version of the HAMD-6 has a Cronbach's α coefficient of 0.91 and retest reliability ICC of 0.81.
“The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the Chinese version of the HAMD-6 was 0.91, and the intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC) for retest reliability was 0.81 [32].”
From Effect of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy on older stroke survivors: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. (2023) · cites this paper as [32]
Cites
Hamilton, M. (1960) · Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · doi:10.1136/jnnp.23.1.56 · Cited by 32,817 · see citing works
Development of a Rating Scale for Primary Depressive Illness
Hamilton, M. (1967) · British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.2044-8260.1967.tb00530.x · Cited by 8,410 · see citing works
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., Rush, A. J., Walters, E. E., & Wang, P. S. (2003) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3095 · Cited by 7,988 · see citing works
Malhi, G. S., & Mann, J. J. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31948-2 · Cited by 4,099 · see citing works
Trivedi, M. H., Rush, A. J., Wisniewski, S. R., Nierenberg, A. A., Warden, D., Ritz, L., Norquist, G., Howland, R. H., Lebowitz, B., McGrath, P. J., et al. (2006) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.1.28 · Cited by 3,879 · see citing works
Lecrubier, Y., Sheehan, D., Weiller, E., Amorim, P., Bonora, I., Sheehan, K. H., Janavs, J., & Dunbar, G. (1997) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(97)83296-8 · Cited by 3,513 · see citing works
Cross-national epidemiology of DSM-IV major depressive episode
Bromet, E., Andrade, L. H., Hwang, I., Sampson, N. A., Alonso, J., de Girolamo, G., de Graaf, R., Demyttenaere, K., Hu, C., Iwata, N., et al. (2011) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/1741-7015-9-90 · Cited by 2,221 · see citing works
Sheehan, D., Lecrubier, Y., Harnett Sheehan, K., Janavs, J., Weiller, E., Keskiner, A., Schinka, J., Knapp, E., Sheehan, M., & Dunbar, G. (1997) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(97)83297-x · Cited by 2,149 · see citing works
ECDEU Assessment Manual: (591322011-001)
Guy, W. (1976) · PsycEXTRA Dataset · doi:10.1037/e591322011-001 · Cited by 1,896 · see citing works
Löwe, B., Kroenke, K., Herzog, W., & Gräfe, K. (2004) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/s0165-0327(03)00198-8 · Cited by 1,558 · see citing works
Undertreatment of people with major depressive disorder in 21 countries
Thornicroft, G., Chatterji, S., Evans-Lacko, S., Gruber, M., Sampson, N., Aguilar-Gaxiola, S., Al-Hamzawi, A., Alonso, J., Andrade, L., Borges, G., et al. (2017) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.116.188078 · Cited by 1,121 · see citing works
QUANTITATIVE RATING OF DEPRESSIVE STATES
Bech, P., Gram, L. F., Dein, E., Jacobsen, O., Vitger, J., & Bolwig, T. G. (1975) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1975.tb00002.x · Cited by 489 · see citing works
Bech, P., Allerup, P., Gram, L. F., Reisby, N., Rosenberg, R., Jacobsen, O., & Nagy, Á. (1981) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1981.tb00676.x · Cited by 423 · see citing works
Keller, M. B. (2003) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3152 · Cited by 388 · see citing works
Koller, M. T., Aaronson, N. K., Blazeby, J. M., Bottomley, A., Dewolf, L., Fayers, P. M., Johnson, C. A., Ramage, J. K., SCOTT, N. W., & West, K. (2007) · European Journal of Cancer · doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2007.05.029 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Standardizing the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale: past, present, and future
Williams, J. B. W. (2001) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/bf03035120 · Cited by 294 · see citing works
The Montgomery Äsberg and the Hamilton ratings of depression: A comparison of measures
Carmody, T. J., Rush, A. J., Bernstein, I. H., Warden, D., Brannan, S. K., Burnham, D. B., Woo, A., & Trivedi, M. H. (2006) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2006.04.008 · Cited by 243 · see citing works
The responsiveness of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale
Faries, D. E., Herrera, J. M., Rayamajhi, J., DeBrota, D. J., Demitrack, M. A., & Potter, W. Z. (2000) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/s0022-3956(99)00037-0 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
The improved Clinical Global Impression Scale (iCGI): development and validation in depression
Kadouri, A., Corruble, E., & Falissard, B. (2007) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-7-7 · Cited by 200 · see citing works
Licht, R. W., Qvitzau, S., Allerup, P., & Bech, P. (2005) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2004.00440.x · Cited by 120 · see citing works
Rating depressed patients: observer- vs self-assessment
Möller, H. ‐. (2000) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0924-9338(00)00229-7 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Selegiline Transdermal System for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder
Feiger, A. D., Rickels, K., Rynn, M. A., ZIMBROFF, D. L., & Robinson, D. S. (2006) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.4088/jcp.v67n0905 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Methodological aspects in the assessment of severity of depression by the Hamilton Depression Scale
Möller, H. (2001) · European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1007/bf03035121 · Cited by 83 · see citing works
James Spencer, L., Abate, D., Abate, K. H., Abay, S. M., Abbafati, C., Abbasi, N., Abbastabar, H., Abd-Allah, F., Abdela, J., & Alvis‐Guzmán, N. (2018) · Cited by 81 · see citing works
Santor, D. A., & Coyne, J. C. (2001) · Psychological Assessment · doi:10.1037/1040-3590.13.1.127 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Is the antidepressive effect of second-generation antidepressants a myth?
Bech, P. (2009) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291709006102 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
The Ham D6 is more homogenous and as sensitive as the Ham D17
Lecrubier, Y., & Bech, P. (2007) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2007.01.1218 · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Kyle, P. R., Lemming, O. M., Timmerby, N., Søndergaard, S., Andreasson, K., & Bech, P. (2016) · Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1097/jcp.0000000000000557 · Cited by 50 · see citing works
A validation analysis of two self‐reported HAM‐D6 versions
Bech, P., Wilson, P. H., Wessel, T. C., Lunde, M., & D, M. F. M. (2008) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2008.01289.x · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Bech, P., D, M. F. M., Trivedi, M. H., Wisniewski, S. R., & Rush, A. J. (2011) · Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01791.x · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Dunlop, B. W., Parikh, S. V., Rothschild, A. J., Thase, M. E., DeBattista, C., Conway, C. R., Forester, B. P., Mondimore, F. M., Shelton, R. C., Macaluso, M., et al. (2019) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-019-2410-2 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Nixon, N. L., Guo, B., Garland, A., Kaylor‐Hughes, C., Nixon, E., & Morriss, R. K. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241370 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Hieronymus, F., Lisinski, A., Eriksson, E., & Østergaard, S. D. (2021) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-021-01364-0 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Dose Response to Adjunctive Light Therapy in Citalopram-Treated Patients with Post-Stroke Depression
Søndergaard, M. P., Jarden, J. O., Martiny, K., Andersen, G., & Bech, P. (2006) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000092895 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
da Silva, A. K., Reche, M., Lima, A. F. D. S., Fleck, M. P. D. A., Capp, E., & Shansis, F. (2018) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2018.07.009 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Bachner, Y. G., O’Rourke, N., Goldfracht, M., Bech, P., & Ayalon, L. (2013) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/1471-244x-13-2 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Murphy, J., Michalak, E. E., Liu, J., Colquhoun, H. L., Burton, H., Yang, X., Yang, T., Wang, X., Fei, Y., He, Y., et al. (2021) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03442-5 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Self-citationChouinard, G., Saxena, B., Nair, N. P. V., Kutcher, S., Bakish, D., Bradwejn, J., Kennedy, S. H., Sharma, V., Remick, R. A., KUKHA-MOHAMAD, S. A., et al. (1994) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/0165-0327(94)90068-x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Lee, C., Liu, C., & Hung, C. (2017) · Asia-Pacific Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/appy.12287 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Is the 6‐item, self‐report HAM‐D an effective depression screening measure with bipolar disorder?
Kraun, L., O’Rourke, N., Osher, Y., Bersudsky, Y., Belotherkovsky, D., & Bachner, Y. G. (2020) · Perspectives In Psychiatric Care · doi:10.1111/ppc.12509 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
The validity and reliability of the six-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.
Gao, Y. (2006) · Zhongguo shenjing jingshen jibing zazhi · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 43 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Singh, A., & Kumar, D. (2022) · Medical Engineering & Physics · doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2022.103900 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Zhu, R.-Y., Chen, H., Gao, Y., Pan, Z.-H., & Wang, J.-Y. (2022) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000029914 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Association between mild depressive states in polycystic ovary syndrome and an unhealthy lifestyle
Li, L., Kang, Z., Chen, P., Niu, B., Wang, Y., & Yang, L. (2024) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1361962 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Yin, M., Heng, Z., Li, J., Wang, L., Zhu, M., Wang, N., Yang, P., & Yang, Z. (2025) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.02.062 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
He, Y., Zhao, B., Liu, Z., Hu, Y., Song, J., & Wu, J. (2024) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-024-03210-5 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Jaya, E. S., Novrianto, R., Pillny, M., & Wiguna, T. (2024) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104184 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Wang, T., Li, H., & Cao, Q. (2024) · Frontiers in Medicine · doi:10.3389/fmed.2024.1483709 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Chen, F., Zhou, Q., Wu, J., & Xu, X. (2023) · BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies · doi:10.1186/s12906-023-04160-z · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“The Cronbach’s α coefficient of the Chinese version of the HAMD-6 was 0.91, and the intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC) for retest reliability was 0.81 [32].”
MethodInfluentialYu, K., Wang, L., Lv, S., Ye, X., Liu, L., Zheng, X., Jin, R., Zhou, D., Zhang, Y., Min, G., et al. (2023) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074129 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Lü, X., Yang, H., Ying, X., & Lin, S. (2025) · BMC Nursing · doi:10.1186/s12912-025-03877-1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Song, W., Fang, M., Geng, Z., Pang, X., Yang, C., Chen, M., Song, B., Hu, C., Hu, Y., Hu, W., et al. (2025) · Journal of Alzheimer s Disease · doi:10.1177/13872877251393715 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationIs the regulation of lamotrigine on depression in patients with epilepsy related to cytokines?
Du, X., Wang, B., Wang, H., Li, Q., Li, X., Hu, P., Lai, Q., & Fan, H. (2024) · Heliyon · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33129 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Zheng, Z., & Han, J. (2025) · Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría · doi:10.62641/aep.v53i3.1749 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Shi, G.-R., & Hui, L.-L. (2025) · CRANIO® · doi:10.1080/08869634.2025.2544383 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Huang, X., Ma, H.-Y., Wang, X.-M., Zhong, J., Yao, K., Kuang, J., & Xu, M. (2025) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-025-03341-4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Self-citationLi, F., Zhao, J., Tang, Y., & Niu, Y.-Q. (2025) · World Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.5498/wjp.v15.i12.108449 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Lin, G. (2024) · American Journal of Translational Research · doi:10.62347/hmmq1938 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Chen, F., Zhou, Q., Wu, J., & Xu, X. (2023) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-2744518/v1
Validation and clinical application of the Chinese version of the rapid response scale
Chen, Z., Shen, J., Chen, Y., You, Z., Chen, X., Zhang, F., Lan, X., Wang, C., Ning, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2025) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-025-07413-y
Chen, F., Zhou, Q., Wu, J., & Xu, X. (2024) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.26623846
Chan, T. L., Siu, V. Y. T., Huang, S.-Y., Lian, A. E. Z., Reyes, M. E. S., Derin, G., AKİŞ, A. D., Zatopek, A., Lam, S. K. K., Bengwasan, P. D., et al. (2026) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2026.104831
Min, J., Kuang, D., Sun, Y., Yao, M., & Chen, Q. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.94372
Yang, S., Xu, W., Guo, X., Fu, Q., Liang, H., Wang, Q., & Wu, J. (2026) · Frontiers in Neurology · doi:10.3389/fneur.2026.1877858
- Authors
- Wang, X.-M., Ma, H.-Y., Zhong, J., Huang, X.-J., Yang, C.-J., Sheng, D.-F., & Xu, M.-Z.
- Affiliations
- Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences (CN)
- Venue
- Asian Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2022-07
- Volume
- 73
- Pages
- 103104
- ISSN
- 1876-2018 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4224233835
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2
- FWCI
- 4.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Asian Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Chinese adaptation, major depressive disorder, depression assessment, psychometric properties, factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, criterion validity, construct validity, depression remission, cut-off values, PHQ-9
- MeSH terms
- China, Depression, Depressive Disorder, Major, Major Depressive Disorder, Humans, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results, Self Report
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review