title: Performance of a single screening question for depression in a representative sample of 13 670 people aged 75 and over in the UK: results from the MRC trial of assessment and management of older people in the community.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A concise, accurate screening question for depression would be an important contribution to the Single Assessment Process for Older People.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the performance of a previously validated screening question for depression, in a large community sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Both the single screening question, and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) were completed by 13 670 people aged 75 and over in the community. Responses to the question were compared with a "standard" of scoring above different thresholds on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15).
  
  
  RESULTS
  For more severe GDS-15 depression, the best performance of the question was a sensitivity of only 52% and a specificity of 93%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Even at its best, the question therefore misses almost half the cases. This highlights the problems of such simple approaches to routine screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK. dosborn@rfc.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: David P J
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Osborn
authors.forename: Astrid E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Fletcher
authors.forename: Liam
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smeeth
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stirling
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bulpitt
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Breeze
authors.forename: Edmond S W
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Dee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Alistair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tulloch
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology