Assessment of anxiety and depression in primary care: value of a four-item questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
Standard questionnaires (eg, Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders [PRIME-MD], Hopkins Symptom Checklist [HSCL]) can be used to assess anxiety and depression in patients. However, such survey tools are typically lengthy and are therefore not used often in primary care.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the value of a four-item anxiety and depression screening questionnaire as a diagnostic assessment tool in family practice.


METHODS
Two self-administered patient questionnaires-PRIME-MD and 25-item HSCL-were provided to a random sample of adult patients at three family practices in Philadelphia, Pa. A subset of patients who endorsed at least one of four anxiety and depression stem items in the PRIME-MD questionnaire were interviewed using the PRIME-MD clinician evaluation guide. The HSCL anxiety and depression clusters were used as the standard measures of emotional symptomatology. Sensitivity and specificity for the four stem items to detect evidence of anxiety or mood disorders were established using the structured interview as the diagnostic gold standard.


RESULTS
A total of 211 patients participated in the present study. Lowest levels of emotional symptomatology were seen in patients who did not endorse any of the stem items, while highest levels were seen in patients who endorsed anxiety and depression items. Findings were statistically significant (P<.0001). Endorsement of at least three of the four stem items differentiated best between patients with and without an anxiety or mood disorder (P<.001), achieving high sensitivity (78%) and specificity (95%).


CONCLUSIONS
A four-item screening tool based on PRIME-MD anxiety and depression stem questions can alert family physicians to potential anxious or depressive symptomatology in the patient and the need for continued evaluation and possible treatment.
Mood and Anxiety Disorders Section, Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 3535 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3309, USA. krickels@mail.med.upenn.edu
Michael R
MR
Rickels
Sarosh
S
Khalid-Khan
Robert
R
Gallop
Karl
K
Rickels
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires