Brief self-rated screening for depression on the Internet.

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Mental Health
• Digital Health

Background:

• The internet presents opportunities for efficient depression screening in clinical and research settings.
• Validation of online self-rated depression measures is crucial for their effective implementation.
• Three scales were evaluated: Single-Item Depression scale (SID), CES-D, and K10.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the reliability and accuracy of three self-rated depression screening tools (SID, CES-D, K10) for internet-based administration.
• To compare the performance of these scales against a gold standard diagnostic interview for depressive disorders.

Main Methods:

• 502 participants (aged 18-80) completed online SID, CES-D, and K10 measures.
• A subset of 157 participants underwent a telephone diagnostic interview using the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) for DSM-IV disorders.
• Statistical analyses included Cronbach's alpha for reliability and Area Under the Curve (AUC) for diagnostic accuracy.

Main Results:

• CES-D and K10 demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.90).
• All three scales showed significant correlations with each other and differentiated between individuals with and without depressive disorders (P<0.001).
• CES-D (AUC=0.84) and K10 (AUC=0.81) exhibited superior diagnostic accuracy compared to SID (AUC=0.71), with no significant difference between CES-D and K10.

Conclusions:

• The CES-D and K10 are validated, reliable, and accurate tools for internet-based depression screening.
• These measures are suitable for both clinical care providers screening patients and researchers collecting data on depressive symptoms.
• The findings support the use of online platforms for efficient and effective mental health assessments.