To screen or not to screen: symptoms identifying primary care medical patients in need of screening for depression

It is estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of primary care patients meet criteria for Major Depressive Disorder with an additional 10 percent to 30 percent experiencing significant subclinical depression. However, only 18 percent to 50 percent of depressed primary care patients are so diagnosed by their primary care physicians and even fewer receive professional mental health care. The current study proposes a quick and efficient means to assist physicians in determining for which patients the resource intensive process of thoroughly screening for depression should be engaged.

The present study examined responses of 358 consecutively reporting patients to a mid-west university-based primary care clinic on the Beck Depression Inventory.

Among individuals reporting high levels of depressive symptomatology, five questions from the Beck Depression Inventory were endorsed by 90 percent or greater of the participants. Analyses by gender indicated that while the same five items were endorsed by males and females, three additional items were frequently endorsed by males.

These findings suggest that a means for efficiently identifying individuals who warrant screening for depression may be readily available to primary care physicians. Surprisingly, this screening was found to emphasize psychological rather than vegetative symptoms. Thus, attending to these symptoms and/or complaints during the course of an office visit may serve as an indicator that a thorough screening for depression, or possibly referral, is warranted.