Abstract
Objectives: This retrospective study analyzed a primary care depression screening initiative in a large urban university health center. Depression detection, treatment status, and engagement data are presented. Participants: Participants were 3,713 graduate and undergraduate students who presented consecutively for primary care services between January and April 2006. Methods: A standardized 2-tiered screening approach for an inception cohort of students utilizing primary services. Primary care providers were trained to triage students with depressive symptoms. Results: Six percent of participants had clinically significant depressive symptoms (CSD). Severe depressive symptoms were found in less than 1.0% of participants. Male rates of severe depressive symptoms were more than double that of females. Only 35.7% of untreated depressed participants started treatment within 30 days following identification. Conclusions: Systematic primary care depression screening in a college health center is a promising approach to identify untreated students with depression. More study is needed to improve rates of treatment engagement.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 289-295 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of American College Health |
Volume | 59 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- community health
- counseling
- gender
- mental health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health