Grant: Project Grant

Major depression is common among elderly Canadians. Depression screening, which involves using short questionnaires to identify people who may have unrecognized depression, has been suggested as a way to improve the detection, management and treatment of depression. Some organizations recommend depression screening for elderly adults, but screening is not currently recommended in Canada's main healthcare guidelines due to concerns that screening tools do not accurately distinguish between patients with and without depression. Another concern with existing screening methods is that they do not do consider patient risk factors such as age, sex, care setting, and medical diagnoses, which may be associated with depression. Instead, they simply classify patients as either "likely" or "not likely" to be depressed. In our project, we will combine original patient data from published studies that used the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) depression screening tool, in order to create a very large database that can be used to determine more accurate ways to identify elderly patients with depression. The project will allow us to determine the probability that a specific elderly patient is depressed by considering the patient's individual depression score along with specific patient characteristics (e.g., age, sex, care setting, medical diagnosis). To implement our findings, we will develop a free online calculator that will allows healthcare professionals to use the results of our research with their patients in clinical practice. This project will improve the effectiveness of depression screening in the elderly, which depends on accurate screening questionnaires. In collaboration with Canadian guideline-makers, findings from this project will be applied in hospitals and health clinics to facilitate effective depression screening programs, improve the management of depression, and set Canada apart as a leader in depression research and practice.