Two-question depression-screeners - the solution to all problems?
Depression constitutes a considerable issue in medicine and it is anticipated that the amount of people suffering from affective disorders will increase significantly. It would be useful to have a simple, fast screening procedure which would help detect depression. In four recently published articles a two-question depression-screener is recommended.


METHODS
Sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, negative and positive predictive values were compared.


RESULTS
For four different clinical samples and one sample that was representative of the German population the prevalence for depression ranged from 6.9 % to 18.1 %. Sensitivity and specificity reached values from 72.6 % to 96.6 % and from 56.9 % to 90.0 % respectively. All negative predictive values were high (< 97 %) opposed to positive predictive values (17.8 % to 38.5 %).


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, it seems that the two-question screenings are well suited for the exclusion of a major depression. It is possible that regular screening could further lower the percentage of undiagnosed cases.
Albani
Cornelia
C
University Clinic for Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
Bailer
Harald
H
Blaser
Gerd
G
Brähler
Elmar
E
Geyer
Michael
M
Grulke
Norbert
N
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires