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Lifestyle screening: development of an acceptable multi-item general practice tool
Felicity Goodyear-Smith1, Bruce Arroll, Sean Sullivan
1Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. f.goodyear-smith@auckland.ac.nz
The New Zealand Medical Journal
|December 1, 2004
Summary
A new self-administered screening tool for lifestyle and mental health risks was developed and found acceptable for primary care. It effectively identifies issues like depression and substance misuse without overwhelming clinicians.
Area of Science:
- Primary Health Care
- Public Health
- Mental Health Screening
Background:
- Screening for lifestyle and mental health risk factors is crucial in primary care.
- Existing tools may not be suitable for self-administration or primary care settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a brief, self-administered screening tool for lifestyle and mental health risk factors.
- To assess the acceptability and feasibility of this tool in primary care.
Main Methods:
- A multi-item tool was designed to screen for smoking, alcohol and drug misuse, gambling, depression, anxiety, abuse, anger, sedentary lifestyle, and weight issues.
- The tool was administered to 2,543 adult patients across 20 urban and 11 rural general practices in New Zealand.
- Patients identified with risk factors were offered assistance.
Main Results:
- The tool screened for a range of issues with prevalences from 2.8% (gambling) to 42.7% (depression).
- The number of patients requiring immediate assistance (0.5-13.5%) was manageable for clinicians.
- Patient acceptance was high, with minimal objections (0.1-0.8%), and most practitioners intended to use the tool.
Conclusions:
- The developed screening tool is acceptable to patients and feasible for use in primary care.
- It effectively identifies various lifestyle and mental health risk factors, supporting proactive healthcare interventions.