National Rates and Patterns of Depression Screening in Primary Care: Results From 2012 and 2013

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Abstract
Objectives:Despite high prevalence rates of depression in primary care, depressive symptoms are often undetected by physicians. Screening for depression is now recommended as a part of routine primary care; however, recent estimates of rates and patterns of depression screening are lacking in the literature. This study examined national rates and patterns of depression screening among visits to office-based primary care physicians.Methods:A secondary analysis of data from the 2012 and 2013 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey was conducted. The sample consisted of 33,653 physician-patient encounters.Results:The overall rate of depression screening was 4.2%. African Americans were half as likely to be screened compared with whites, and elderly patients were half as likely to be screened compared with middle-aged patients. Patients with a chronic condition were more likely than patients without a chronic condition to receive depression screening, and the likelihood of being screened increased with each a...

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