14 DAY TRIAL // A team of researchers at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle Children's, and Group Health, say that the PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 item) is a very good screening test for severe depression in teenagers too.
Being a teenager is not very easy and sometimes depression comes along the growing up process.
Primary-care clinicians know that depression among adolescents is quite common, but until now, they had no screening test for it.
The team was led by Laura P. Richardson, MD, MPH, and they tested whether the PHQ-9 was a good screening tool for depression, on a group of 442 teenage patients aged 13-17, at Group Health.
They compared the PHQ-9 to the Child Diagnostic Interview Schedule, DISC-IV, and to published data on the use of screening tests in adults, and concluded that the best cut point for optimizing the PHQ-9 screening test's sensitivity without losing specificity (11) is higher for teens than for adults.
Its sensitivity (89.5%) and specificity (77.5%) are nevertheless similar in teens are similar and in adults.
The test is really convenient as it is brief, easy to score and understand, available for free and with excellent results (according to DSM-IV criteria) in adults.
Dr. Richardson, associate professor of pediatrics at the UW, an adolescent medicine specialist at Seattle Children's, and an affiliate investigator at Group Health Research Institute, said that “this is important not only because depression is relatively common among adolescents, but also because we have effective treatment for them.
“Primary care clinicians are advised to screen teens for depression," she said, "and they need a convenient tool like this.”
The PHQ-9 is the nine item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire, and it is very efficient in assisting primary care clinicians in diagnosing depression and in selecting and monitoring the appropriate treatment.
Before the patient fills in the questionnaire, the primary care clinician or office staff should discuss the reasons for completing it and the way to do it; once the questionnaire if completed the primary care clinician or office staff, scores it.
The PHQ-9 is based directly on the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition (DSM-IV).
This study is the first to assess depression in teens, and it is published in the November issue of Pediatrics.