Development and evaluation of a PDA-based decision support system for pediatric depression screening

Depression is under recognized in a variety of pediatric settings. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and initial evaluation of a personal digital assistant (PDA)-based decision support system (DSS) for pediatric depression screening in ages 8 to 18 years of age by pediatric advanced practice nurse (APN) students. Three aspects are described: selection of depression screening instrument; integration of the instrument into the PDA; and quantitative (usage) and qualitative (focus group) evaluation. Only one third of eligible patients were screened. Twenty percent of those screened were identified as at risk for mood disorder. The barriers to screening identified through focus groups included a lack of time, knowledge, intervention protocol, referral resources, PDA usability issues, preceptor motivation and comfort, as well as perceived or real cultural barriers. Suggestions for educational, research, and interventions to integrate clinical based PDA-based screening are discussed.