title: Validation of simple visual-analogue thermometer screen for mood complications of cardiovascular disease: the Emotion Thermometers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Conventional scales may help with the identification of depression but are generally too lengthy for clinical practice and perform poorly against anxiety and distress. We therefore examined the value of a single item NCCN Distress Thermometer and an enhanced visual-analogue method (Emotion Thermometers, ET) that incorporates four emotion thermometers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 228 patients with mixed cardiovascular conditions of whom 200 completed questionnaires. 64.5% suffered from cardiomyopathy/congestive heart failure, 9.5% had coronary artery disease, 4.5% had multiple cardiac diagnoses, 3% suffered from hypertension, 2% had rhythm problem, 2% had valve problems and 1.5% were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. We used DSM-IV criteria to define current depression, the GAD7 to define current anxiety and the HADS-T to define distress. 13% had DSM-IV MDD and 19.1% had major or minor depression using DSM-IV (any depression). There were also 59 people (29.6%) with clinically significant distress and 46 with clinically significant anxiety (23.1%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The optimal accuracy for major depression was either the Depression thermometer (DepT) or the Help thermometer (HelpT), as both performed well. They had a sensitivity and specificity of 73.1%, 89.7% and 84.6%, 85.6%, respectively. The DepT was also best for detecting any DSM-IV depression (sensitivity 68.4% and specificity 93.2%) and HAD-T based distress (sensitivity 79.7% and specificity 82.9%). The Anxiety thermometer (AnxT) performed best against the GAD7 (sensitivity 84.8% and specificity 83.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Innovative visual-analogue screening tools for mood appear to perform well in cardiovascular settings.
authors: Psycho-oncology, Leicestershire Partnership Trust, LE5 OTD UK. alex.mitchell@leicspart.nhs.uk
authors: Alex J
authors: AJ
authors: Mitchell
authors: Joshua P
authors: JP
authors: Morgan
authors: Denise
authors: D
authors: Petersen
authors: Sharon
authors: S
authors: Fabbri
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: Fayard
authors: Liset
authors: L
authors: Stoletniy
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Chiong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult