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Related Experiment Videos

Case-finding instruments for depression. Two questions are as good as many

M A Whooley1, A L Avins, J Miranda

  • 1General Internal Medicine Section, San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, CA 94121, USA.

Journal of General Internal Medicine
|July 1, 1997
PubMed
Summary

A brief, two-question depression screening tool demonstrates high sensitivity and comparable validity to longer instruments. This efficient method aids in detecting depression in primary care settings.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Primary Care Medicine
  • Psychometric Validation

Background:

  • Depression is a prevalent mental health condition requiring effective screening tools.
  • Existing depression case-finding instruments vary in length and complexity.
  • Validated instruments are crucial for accurate diagnosis in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a concise, two-question depression screening tool.
  • To compare the performance of this instrument against six established depression case-finding measures.
  • To assess the utility of a brief screening for major depression in primary care.

Main Methods:

  • A comparative study was conducted in an urgent care clinic.
  • Five hundred thirty-six adult patients were assessed using the two-question instrument and six other validated scales.

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  • The Quick Diagnostic Interview Schedule served as the criterion standard for diagnosing major depression.

    • Main Results:

    • The two-question instrument achieved a sensitivity of 96% and a specificity of 57% for major depression.
    • Its performance was comparable to longer instruments, with similar areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (0.82–0.89).
    • The prevalence of depression in the study population was 18%.

    Conclusions:

    • The two-question case-finding instrument is a valid and efficient tool for depression detection in primary care.
    • It offers comparable test characteristics to more time-consuming instruments.
    • This brief measure facilitates timely identification of depression in clinical practice.