J Korean Geriatr Psychiatry.  2010 Dec;14(2):90-96.

The Utility of Korean Version of the WHO Five Well-Being Index in Evaluating Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life in the Aged Dwelling in Community

• Kim HJ
• Moon YS
• Son BK
• Lee SK
• Rho HJ
• Kim DH

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Recently the number of geriatric depressed people has been increasing tremendously. Among many factors affecting depression, quality of life seems to be closely related to depression. Thus, a screening tool for assessing both geriatric depression and quality of life is needed. The purpose of this study is to estimate the utility of the Korean version of the WHO-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5) in evaluating geriatric depression as compared with SGDS-K (Short Geriatric Depression Scale of Korean version) that is being used widely and quality of life.
METHODS
A sample of 244 subjects over 65-year old living in Yanggu and Inje area in Gangwon Province, Korea were interviewed and responded to scales, including WHO-5, SGDS-K, MMSE-KC (Mini Mental Status Examination in the Korean version of the CERAD assessment packet) and GQOL-D (Geriatric Quality of Life-Dementia). The total score of WHO-5 below 13 indicates low well-being.
RESULTS
The WHO-5 inversely correlated with SGDS-K and positively with GQOL-D, but showed no significant correlation with MMSE-KC. The SGDS-K negatively correlated with WHO-5, MMSE-KC, and GQOL-D. Low well-being group (WHO-5 score<13) had lower GQOL-D score (t=1.9698, p<0.05) and higher SGDS-K score (t=1.9798, p<0.05) than high well-being group. In multiple regression analysis, WHO-5 was significantly associated with GQOL-D and SGDS-K (r2=0.29422, p=0.0000).
CONCLUSION
The Korean version of WHO-5 was very useful to evaluate both depressive symptoms and quality of life in the aged dwelling in community.

Keyword

Well-being; Depression; Quality of life; Short Geriatric Depression Scale of Korean version (SGDS-K)