Overview
A clinician-administered scale, originally 17 items, that quantifies severity of depressive symptoms and is the most widely used outcome measure in depression clinical trials.
Use cases
Primary endpoint in antidepressant registration trials and comparative effectiveness studies.
Assessment intelligence
- Score range
- 0 – 52
- Direction
- Higher = worse
- Scoring method
- Clinician Judgment
- Time to score
- ~20 min
Subscales
- Total HDRS-170-52
Clinician-rated 17-item depression severity.
Cutoff thresholds & interpretation
| Severity | Threshold | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | 0-7 | No depression |
| Mild | 8-16 | Mild depression |
| Moderate | 17-23 | Moderate depression |
| Severe | ≥24 | Severe depression |
Gold-standard clinician-administered scale; reference instrument for antidepressant trials.
Editorial notes
Decades of regulatory acceptance; structured-interview variants (SIGH-D) improve reliability.
Available languages
Validation studies (2)
- A rating scale for depressionHamilton M. · Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry · 1960DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.23.1.56
- SIGH-D: A structured interview guide for the HAM-DWilliams JBW. · Archives of General Psychiatry · 1988DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1988.01800320058007