Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30937732›Full record

SynthesisQuality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation2019

Systematic review of the measurement properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 by applying updated COSMIN methodology.

Jiyeon Lee, Eun-Hyun Lee, Seung Hei Moon

Registry-linked trialAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07702513 (A Pilot Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Study of Home-Based Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation to Evaluate Mobility, Balance, and Patient-Reported Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury), which is not on this map. Cited by 118 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
118citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
14.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07702513 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

A Pilot Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Study of Home-Based Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation to Evaluate Mobility, Balance, and Patient-Reported Outcomes After Traumatic Brain Injury

TypeinterventionalSponsorCraig HospitalRan2026 to 2028Enrolled33ConditionsTraumatic Brain Injury, Traumatic Brain Injury, Patient, TBIArmsHome-Based Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

118 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 253 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Health-related quality of life in osteoporosis: a systematic review of measurement properties of the QUALEFFO-41.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2024
    Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. Trial
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Mental Health Matters: A Multi-Institution Study on the Mental Health of Undergraduate Dental Students.European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe · 2026
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

58 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Jiyeon LeeCollege of Nursing, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6413-329X
Eun-Hyun LeeGraduate School of Public Health, Ajou University, 164 World cup-ro, Yeongtong-Gu, Suwon, 16499, Republic of Korea. ehlee@ajou.ac.kr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7188-3857
Seung Hei MoonDepartment of Nursing, Graduate School, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8215-7612
Ajou University · KRChungnam National University · KRInha University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS)-21 measures emotional symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress, is relatively short, and is freely available in the public domain, which has resulted in it being applied to various clinical and non-clinical populations in many countries. The aim of this study was to systematically review the measurement properties of the DASS-21.

methodsThe MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL databases were searched. The methodological quality of each identified study was assessed using the updated COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist. The quality of the measurement properties of the studies was rated using the updated criteria for good measurement properties. The quality of evidence was rated using a modified version of the GRADE approach.

resultsThis study included 48 studies in its review. The content validity of the DASS-21 demonstrated sufficient moderate-quality evidence. The instrument exhibited sufficient high-quality evidence for bifactor structural validity and internal consistency. The instrument also showed sufficient high-quality evidence for hypothesis testing of construct validity. Regarding criterion validity, only the DASS-21 Depression subscale demonstrated sufficient high-quality evidence. The measurement invariance across gender demonstrated inconsistent moderate-quality evidence. There was insufficient low-quality evidence for the reliability of each subscale. For responsiveness there was sufficient low-quality evidence for depression and stress subscales, and insufficient very-low-quality evidence for anxiety subscale.

conclusionsThe DASS-21 demonstrated sufficient high-quality evidence for bifactor structural validity, internal consistency (bifactor), criterion validity (Depression subscale), and hypothesis testing for construct validity. Further studies are required to assess the other measurement properties of the DASS-21.

Indexed as

AdultAnxietyDepressionFemaleHumansMaleOutcome Assessment, Health CareQuality of LifeReproducibility of ResultsResearch DesignAnxietyDepressionMeasurement propertiesOutcome measurement instrumentStressSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID30937732
OpenAlexW2927560891

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.