Project 461874

Depression screening has not been shown to improve mental health. Barriers include poor-quality evidence on screening tool accuracy, on differential accuracy across cutoff scores on the same screening tool or between different screening tools, and on incorporating individual demographic and health characteristics into models. The DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project is a collaboration of > 350 data contributors from 60 countries that was formed to address evidence gaps by obtaining actual participant data from large numbers of studies to conduct rigorous evaluations using individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA). IPDMA is different from conventional meta-analyses because it obtains actual individual data from all participants rather than synthesizing only published summary results from each study. This allows us to answer questions that have not been addressed in smaller, individual published studies. Individual studies, for instance, do not have enough data to evaluate results for participant subgroups (e.g., by sex, age, medical condition). We have built large datasets of the most used depression screening tools in primary care (Patient Health Questionnaire; 105 studies, 46,277 participants), perinatal care (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; 59 studies, 15,593 participants), hospital care (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Depression subscale; 102 studies, 31,679 participants), and elderly care (Geriatric Depression Scale; in progress). These databases have not been updated since 2018. Updating is urgently needed to ensure continued relevance given the rapid publication of new evidence and to conduct data-intensive analyses focused on subgroups and personalized risk assessment. We will update our databases and main analyses, compare screening tools, develop shorter screening tools, develop models for assessing depression risk that are more sophisticated than existing binary (yes/no) classifications, and conduct methodological research.