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Common Mental Disorders Depression - New Zealand Doctor

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Chapter 3 Recognition and assessment of common mental disorders in young people/rangatahi/tamariki<br />

3.2 Screening young people/rangatahi/<br />

tamariki for common mental disorders<br />

There is ongoing debate about the merits of screening for common mental disorders<br />

among young people/rangatahi/tamariki in primary health care or educational settings.<br />

Evidence was sought on screening young people/rangatahi/tamariki in an educational<br />

or primary care setting. Screening in this context refers to routine use of a tool, over and<br />

above customary clinical assessment. Two systematic reviews were identified, but neither<br />

found any randomised controlled trials to determine whether screening for mental<br />

disorders improves either identification rates or outcomes for young people. 66,176<br />

However, a further two systematic reviews evaluated the role of routine screening in<br />

educational settings for depressive disorders 177 and/or anxiety disorders, 178 or elevated<br />

symptoms of depression 177 and/or anxiety 178 with targeted psychological intervention<br />

in those testing positive on screening. One reported a clinically meaningful reduction<br />

in depression scores (mean effect size 0.55) and calculated that thirty-one students<br />

would need to be screened (and, if necessary, treated) in order to successfully treat<br />

one case of depression. 177 The other systematic review reported positive results from<br />

a number of school programmes targeting depression and anxiety. 178 There was very<br />

little evidence about long-term effectiveness and none about potential negative effects.<br />

There was evidence that screening for mental disorders in a student population is<br />

feasible 179 and that asking about suicidal behaviour in an educational setting does<br />

not appear harmful. 180 There was insufficient good-quality evidence to evaluate the<br />

feasibility of screening in a primary health care setting. 181,182<br />

Screening young people/rangatahi/tamariki:<br />

issues for evidence-based practice<br />

Given the lack of evidence on the long-term and/or adverse effects of screening with<br />

early intervention for young people/rangatahi/tamariki with mental disorders, routine<br />

use of a screening tool is not recommended in any setting at present. However, there<br />

is sufficient evidence to support further research on the benefits and risks of routinely<br />

screening young people/rangatahi/tamariki in an educational setting for common mental<br />

disorders in conjunction with early psychological intervention in those screening positive.<br />

Identification of <strong>Common</strong> <strong>Mental</strong> <strong>Disorders</strong> and Management of <strong>Depression</strong> in Primary Care 25

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