Screening for Anxiety in Pediatric Primary Care: A Systematic Review

Anxiety is common, screening tools are available, and treatment can be effective. Recently, anxiety screening has been recommended for adolescent girls beginning at 13 years of age.

To evaluate the evidence regarding anxiety screening test accuracy in primary care for children and adolescents and assess the effectiveness of treatment of individuals identified through screening.

We searched PubMed, the Cochrane library, and references to potentially eligible studies cited in other articles.

Screening studies were included if they were conducted in primary care or a similar population and employed a reference standard based on DSM criteria. Treatment studies were included if subjects were identified through screening and there was at least 1 comparator intervention or a placebo arm.

At least 2 reviewers evaluated each identified reference.

Two screening studies (1 with low risk of bias and 1 with high risk of bias) and 1 treatment study with a low risk of bias were included. The screening study with a low risk of bias reported a sensitivity of 56% and specificity of 80%. The treatment study found individual cognitive behavioral therapy to be effective for screen-detected adolescents with social phobia.

This review only included screening or treatment studies with clear evidence that the study populations were derived from an unselected population reflective of typical primary care. Relevant studies not indexed in PubMed or the Cochrane library could have been missed.

There are significant gaps in evidence related to anxiety screening in the primary care setting.