Abstract

Background: Depression is the second most common chronic disorder seen by physicians in primary care, where an average of 12% of patients might present with major depression. Depressed patients are more likely to see a primary care physician than a specialist for both initial diagnosis and treatment.
Methods: As part of the celebration for the Gulf Youth Day in October 2012, fifty-five students were invited to Naim Health Centre. The patient health questionnaire was distributed to them to screen for mental disorders. The students were given instructions on how to complete the questionnaire and the participating clinicians scored the responses and summarized the results.
Results: Nine students had major depressive disorders and fifteen students had other depressive disorders. Seven of the students with major depressive illness had suicidal ideation compared to nine out of the fifteen students with other depressive illnesses. In addition, seven of the students who tested negatively for depressive illness, still had suicidal ideation.
Conclusion: It is critically important that primary care practitioners are able to correctly identify patients suffering from depression. Screening is a very effective first step in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of depression in primary care. However, the skillful clinical interview which incorporates verbal communication and good interpretation of non-verbal clues is crucial and indispensable for effective and reliable diagnosis.

Keywords: Depression, Adolescents, Primary care, Screening, Self-reporting questionnaire