Gauging Recovery Rates Requires Test Norms

To the Editor.—  In their article in the February issue of the Archives comparing male and female cocaine abusers, Griffen et al¹ use scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS)² to conclude that males recover more rapidly from depression. They say that while HDRS scores for both groups drop significantly during the first 2 weeks of inpatient treatment, the continued decrease during the next 2 weeks is greater for male abusers.Unfortunately, the HDRS does not have differential norms for men and women so we really do not know when each group maximizes its therapeutic potential. A prominent psychological test, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,³ shows though that, on average, women typically get higher scores on its Depression scale than men.If this is equally true for the HDRS (which, according to the reference article,² has no norms at all and, therefore, no base rates),