Diagnostic efficiency of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in women with early stage breast cancer.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic efficiency of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) inpatients with breast cancer.

Methods: Women (303) recently diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer completed the HADS and were psychiatrically assessed. Recommended cut-off scores for Depression (D) and Anxiety(A) Scales identified probable caseness and the accuracy was compared with DSM-IV diagnoses.