El–Den S, et al. – The aim of this study was to present a systematic review investigating the psychometric properties of depression screening tools. Findings revealed that depression screening tools vary in their psychometric properties and the PHQ (patient health questionnaire)–9 was the most extensively psychometrically tested tool. The authors suggested that this systematic review might help PHC professionals in choosing a depression screening tool for universal use as it gives a comprehensive overview of their psychometric properties.

Methods

• Between January 1995 through October 2015, a systematic literature search composed of four terms (screening AND psychometric AND depression AND primary healthcare) was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO and MEDLINE.
• Studies that meant to psychometrically test a depression screening tool among the general adult population in a PHC setting were incorporated.
• Studies investigating the diagnostic properties of depression screening tools among specific populations were eliminated.

Results

• 60 publications, assessing the psychometric properties of 55 tools or adaptations, were incorporated.
• Studies were directed in 24 countries and 18 languages on forty-eight thousand, two hundred thirty-four adults.
• The results of this study showed that the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was the most evaluated tool with 14 studies assessing its psychometric properties.
• 54 examinations reported on at least one measure of receiver operating characteristics.
• It was noted that sensitivity and specificity values ranged from 28–100% and 43–100%, respectively.
• In addition, Cronbach alpha values ranged from 0.56–0.94.
• The present data indicated that other forms of reliability and validity testing were less consistently and commonly reported.