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Screening for depression among patients with multiple sclerosis: two questions may be enough
1University of California, San Francisco, VAMC, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA. dmohr@itsa.ucsf.edu
Multiple Sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)
|April 19, 2007
Summary
A simple two-question depression screen effectively identifies major depressive disorder (MDD) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This method can help more MS patients receive necessary mental health treatment.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Psychiatry
- Public Health
Background:
- Depression significantly impacts multiple sclerosis (MS) patients' quality of life.
- Two-thirds of depressed MS patients do not receive adequate treatment.
- Current validated screening tools are underutilized in clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a two-question screening tool for major depressive disorder (MDD) in MS patients.
- To assess the reliability of screening for mood and anhedonia in this population.
Main Methods:
- Recruited MS patients from a large health maintenance organization (HMO).
- Administered the MDD module of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV and a two-question screening tool.
- Assessed participants for major depressive disorder.
Main Results:
- 26% of participants met the criteria for MDD.
- 67% of patients diagnosed with MDD were not receiving anti-depressant medication.
- The two-question screen identified 99% of MDD cases with high accuracy.
Conclusions:
- A brief, two-question screen is a reliable method for identifying MDD in MS patients.
- This screening approach can identify nearly all MS patients with MDD, minimizing false positives.
- Implementation of this brief screen could improve depression diagnosis and treatment rates in MS.
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