TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1995//
TI  - Automated telephone screening survey for depression
JO  - JAMA journal of the American Medical Association
A1  - Baer, L.
A1  - Jacobs, D. G.
A1  - Cukor, P.
A1  - O'Laughlen, J.
A1  - Coyle, J. T.
A1  - Magruder, K. M.
SP  - 1943
EP  - 1944
VL  - 273
IS  - 24
N2  - OBJECTIVE: To test the application of fully automated telephone screening using computerized digital voice recordings and touch-tone responses to assess symptoms of depression. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study of a 2-week-long telephone survey. SETTING: Toll-free telephone calls placed from home, work, or school to a central telephone/computer system at a telecommunications company in the Boston, Mass, area. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1812 participants called the system. Of these, 278 were students and faculty at a large midwestern state university, 725 were employees of a large northeastern high-technology firm, and 809 did not identify which site they were calling from. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The 20-question multiple-choice Zung Depression Scale was used to screen for depressive symptoms, and additional questions gathered demographic and caller satisfaction information. RESULTS: No technical problems were encountered during the trial. Of 1812 callers, 1597 (88.1%) completed all questions. Of these, 412 callers (25.8%) met criteria for "moderate or marked" depression and another 194 (12.1%) met criteria for "severe or extreme" depression. The majority of callers scoring positive for depression had received no previous treatment for depression. Of callers who completed the screening questionnaire, 74.6% reported the call to have been at least "moderately" helpful. CONCLUSION: Readily available low-cost technology provides a fully automated, widely accessible, and confidential method of screening for a common mental illness.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0098-7484
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -