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DENVER — Although few dispute the value of screening adolescents for depression in the primary care setting, there remains debate as to how often it happens.
Not much, according to Elizabeth Ozer, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. She and her colleagues analyzed data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey, the largest state survey in the United States, and reported their findings during a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.
Of 899 adolescents aged 13–17 years who made a clinic well visit 3 months prior to taking the survey, only one-third reported answering “Yes” to the question, “When you had your last routine physical exam, did you and a doctor or other health provider talk about your emotions or moods?” Screening was more prevalent in girls (37%) than in boys (26%), with an odds ratio of 1.7. “We don't know if it's because clinicians are more tuned in to the fact that we have higher rates of depression among adolescent girls … or if the girls are more likely to say something than the [boys] are,” Dr. Ozer said in an interview.
There were also different rates of screening by ethnicity, with a greater prevalence in whites and Hispanics (33% each) than in Asian Americans (25%) or African Americans (22%). The differences did not reach statistical significance.
The researchers also administered the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, in which a score of 7 or greater indicates emotional distress. Distress was reported by 32% of the girls and 23% of the boys. In distressed girls, 60% said their physician had not asked them about their emotional health. “Given the rates of depression … we need higher rates of screening than that,” he said.
DENVER — Although few dispute the value of screening adolescents for depression in the primary care setting, there remains debate as to how often it happens.
Not much, according to Elizabeth Ozer, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. She and her colleagues analyzed data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey, the largest state survey in the United States, and reported their findings during a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.
Of 899 adolescents aged 13–17 years who made a clinic well visit 3 months prior to taking the survey, only one-third reported answering “Yes” to the question, “When you had your last routine physical exam, did you and a doctor or other health provider talk about your emotions or moods?” Screening was more prevalent in girls (37%) than in boys (26%), with an odds ratio of 1.7. “We don't know if it's because clinicians are more tuned in to the fact that we have higher rates of depression among adolescent girls … or if the girls are more likely to say something than the [boys] are,” Dr. Ozer said in an interview.
There were also different rates of screening by ethnicity, with a greater prevalence in whites and Hispanics (33% each) than in Asian Americans (25%) or African Americans (22%). The differences did not reach statistical significance.
The researchers also administered the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, in which a score of 7 or greater indicates emotional distress. Distress was reported by 32% of the girls and 23% of the boys. In distressed girls, 60% said their physician had not asked them about their emotional health. “Given the rates of depression … we need higher rates of screening than that,” he said.
DENVER — Although few dispute the value of screening adolescents for depression in the primary care setting, there remains debate as to how often it happens.
Not much, according to Elizabeth Ozer, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Francisco. She and her colleagues analyzed data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey, the largest state survey in the United States, and reported their findings during a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.
Of 899 adolescents aged 13–17 years who made a clinic well visit 3 months prior to taking the survey, only one-third reported answering “Yes” to the question, “When you had your last routine physical exam, did you and a doctor or other health provider talk about your emotions or moods?” Screening was more prevalent in girls (37%) than in boys (26%), with an odds ratio of 1.7. “We don't know if it's because clinicians are more tuned in to the fact that we have higher rates of depression among adolescent girls … or if the girls are more likely to say something than the [boys] are,” Dr. Ozer said in an interview.
There were also different rates of screening by ethnicity, with a greater prevalence in whites and Hispanics (33% each) than in Asian Americans (25%) or African Americans (22%). The differences did not reach statistical significance.
The researchers also administered the Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, in which a score of 7 or greater indicates emotional distress. Distress was reported by 32% of the girls and 23% of the boys. In distressed girls, 60% said their physician had not asked them about their emotional health. “Given the rates of depression … we need higher rates of screening than that,” he said.