Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-rwnhh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-22T14:14:09.107Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Screening for Depression in the Medically Ill

The Future of Paper and Pencil Tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

C. J. Meakin
C. J. Meakin*
Affiliation:
Walsgrave Hospital, Clifford Bridge Road, Coventry CV2 2DX
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Paper and pencil screening tests for depression have never become widely used in the medically ill, despite consensus that a sizeable pool of depression exists in this population. The performance of several self-rating scales in these patients is reviewed, demonstrating that satisfactory screening of depression as defined by standard case criteria can be achieved. It is proposed that it is primarily the absence of clear guidelines for treatment to be used in conjunction with these scales which will make clinicians sceptical of their value. Treatment validation of case criteria is required to demonstrate that screening for depression in medical patients is worthwhile.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 160 , Issue 2 , February 1992 , pp. 212 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1992 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agrell, B. & Dehlin, O. (1989) Comparison of six depression rating scales in geriatric stroke patients. Stroke, 20, 1190–1194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1980) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., et al (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.Google Scholar
Byrne, P. (1984) Psychiatric morbidity in a gynaecology clinic: an epidemiological survey. British Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 28–34.Google Scholar
Costa, D., Mogos, I. & Toma, T. (1985) Efficacy and safety of mianserin in the treatment of depression of women with cancer. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 72 (suppl. 320), 85–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craven, J. L., Rodin, G. M. & Littlefield, C. (1988) The Beck Depression Inventory as a screening device for major depression in renal dialysis patients. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine, 18, 365–374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D. (1972) The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire, Institute of Psychiatry Maudsley Monograph 21. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. & Hillier, V. F. (1979) A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychological Medicine, 9, 139–145.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goldberg, D., Bridges, K., Duncan-Jones, P., et al (1988) Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. British Medical Journal, 297, 897–899.Google Scholar
Hardman, A., Maguire, P. & Crowther, D. (1989) The recognition of psychiatric morbidity on a medical oncology ward. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 33, 235–239.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
House, A. (1988) Mood disorders in the physically ill – problems of definition and measurement. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 32, 345–353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughson, A. V. M., Cooper, A. F., McArdle, C. S., et al (1988) Validity of the General Health Questionnaire and its subscales in patients receiving chemotherapy for early breast cancer. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 32, 393–402.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnstone, A. & Goldberg, D. (1976) Psychiatric screening in general practice: a controlled trial. Lancet, i, 605–608.Google Scholar
Kathol, R. G. & Petty, F. (1981) Relationship of depression to medical illness. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 111–121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirk, C. A. & Saunders, M. (1979) Psychiatric illness in a neurological outpatient department in north east England: use of the general health questionnaire in the prospective study of neurological outpatients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 60, 427–437.Google Scholar
Kitchell, M. A., Barnes, R. F., Veith, R. C., et al (1982) Screening for depression in hospitalized geriatric medical patients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 30, 174–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, D. F. (1974) Endogenomorphic depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 447–454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, H. G., Meador, K. G., Cohen, H. J., et al (1988) Self rated depression scales and screening for major depression in the older hospitalized patient with medical illness. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 36, 699–706.Google Scholar
Lipsey, J. R., Robinson, R. G., Pearlson, G. D., et al (1984) Nortriptyline treatment of post stroke depression: a double blind study. Lancet, i, 297–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magni, G., De Leo, D. & Schifano, F. (1985) Depression in geriatric and adult medical inpatients. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41, 337–344.3.0.CO;2-7>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maguire, G. P., Julier, D. L., Hawton, K. E., et al (1974) Psychiatric morbidity and referral on two general medical wards. British Medical Journal, i, 268–270.Google Scholar
Maguire, G. P., Hopwood, P., Tarrier, N., et al (1985) Treatment of depression in cancer patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 72 (suppl. 320), 81–84.Google Scholar
Mari, J. J. & Williams, P. (1985) A comparison of the validity of two psychiatric screening questionnaires (GHQ–12 and SRQ–20) in Brazil, using Relative Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis. Psychological Medicine, 15, 651–659.Google Scholar
Meakin, C. J. (1987) An Investigation into Rating Depression in Medically Ill Inpatients. MMedSci dissertation, University of Leeds.Google Scholar
Medina Mora, M. E., Padilla, G. P., Campillo-Serrano, C., et al (1983) The factor structure of the GHQ: a scaled version for a hospital's general practice service in Mexico. Psychological Medicine, 13, 355–361.Google Scholar
Nielsen, A. C. & Williams, T. A. (1980) Depression in ambulatory medical patients: prevalence by self report questionnaire and recognition by nonpsychiatric physicians. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 999–1004.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nierenberg, A. A. & Feinstein, A. R. (1988) How to evaluate a diagnostic marker test: lessons from the rise and fall of dexamethasone suppression test. Journal of the American Medical Association, 259, 1699–1702.Google Scholar
Norris, J. T., Gallagher, D., Wilson, A., et al (1987) Assessment of depression in geriatric medical outpatients: the validity of two screening measures. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 35, 989–995.Google Scholar
Okimoto, J. T., Barnes, R. F., Veith, R. C., et al (1982) Screening for depression in geriatric medical patients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 799–802.Google Scholar
Paykel, E. S., Freeling, P. & Hollyman, J. A. (1988) Are tricyclic antidepressants useful for mild depression? A placebo controlled trial. Pharmacopsychiatry, 21, 15–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Popkin, M. K., Callies, A. L. & Mackenzie, T. B. (1985) The outcome of antidepressant use in the medically ill. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 1160–1163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rabins, P. V. & Brooks, B. R. (1981) Emotional disturbance in multiple sclerosis patients: validity of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ). Psychological Medicine, 11, 425–427.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Razavi, D., Delvaux, N., Farvacques, C., et al (1990) Screening for adjustment disorders and major depressive disorders in cancer inpatients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 79–83.Google Scholar
Salkovskis, P. M., Storer, D., Atha, C., et al (1990) Psychiatric morbidity in an accident and emergency department: characteristics of patients at presentation and one month follow-up. British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 483–487.Google Scholar
Snaith, R. P., Ahmed, S. N., Mehta, S., et al (1971) Assessment of the severity of primary depressive illness. Psychological Medicine, 1, 143–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stewart, M. A., Drake, F. & Winokur, G. (1965) Depression among medically ill patients. Diseases of the Nervous System, 26, 479–485.Google Scholar
Stewart, J. W., McGrath, P. J., Liebowitz, M. R., et al (1985) Treatment outcome validation of DSM III depressive subtypes. Archives of General Psychiatry, 42, 1148–1153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vazquez-Barquero, J. L., Padierna Acero, J. A., Pena Martin, C., et al (1985) The psychiatric correlates of coronary pathology: validity of the GHQ–60 as a screening instrument. Psychological Medicine, 15, 589–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, J. M. G. & Jungner, G. (1968) Principles and Practice of Screening for Disease, Public Health Papers vol. 34. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Yesavage, J. A., Brink, T. L., Rose, T. L., et al (1983) Development and validation of a geriatric depression screening scale: a preliminary report. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 17, 37–49.Google Scholar
Zigmond, A. S. & Snaith, R. P. (1983) The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67, 361–370.Google Scholar
Zung, W. W. K. (1965) A self rating depression scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 12, 63–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.