USPSTF: Screening Children and Adolescents for Depression

The task force recommends screening for adolescents when follow-up is available, but data are still sparse on whether screening benefits children.

Although the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD) is approximately 3% in children and 6% in adolescents, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended against screening children and adolescents for MDD in a 2002 guideline.

Now, the USPSTF recommends that clinicians screen all adolescents (age, 12–18 years) for MDD using the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents and the Beck Depression Inventory-Primary Care Version (sensitivity, 73% and 91%, respectively; specificity, 94% and 91%). Screening should take place only in settings in which accurate diagnoses, psychotherapy, and follow-up are possible. The USPSTF found adequate evidence that treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), psychotherap…

Reviewing Author

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

Howard Bauchner, MD

Disclosures

Grant / research supportHuman Resources and Services Administration; NIH; NIH-NHLBI; USDA; GlaxoSmithKline

Editorial boardsArchives of Disease in Childhood (Editor-in-Chief)

USPSTF: Screening Children and Adolescents for Depression

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Reviewing Author