Emoqol- 100 : Development and validation of a single question for low mood in primary care. A retrospective audit.

• Background: Patients with depression need to be diagnosed and managed effectively in primary care. However, current inventories for case- finding low mood are time- consuming when considering the limited time available during appointments. Aim: To validate the diagnostic accuracy of a single question on the emotional quality of life (Emoqol- 100) as a measure of depression in symptomatic patients. Design & setting: A retrospective clinical audit, validating the Emoqol- 100 compared with the 9- item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ- 9) and Burns Depression Scale Today (BDST) in South Auckland, Method: Consecutive patients with suspected low mood, seen over 22 months in a single primary care clinic by one of the authors, were eligible for this retrospective audit (n = 160). The index test was the verbally asked Emoqol- 100: 'How is your emotional quality of life now, with 100 being perfect and 0 being the worst imaginable?' The reference standard was the PHQ- 9 (n = 426 visits) with a cut- off point of >= 10 or BDST (n = 513 visits) with a cut- off point of >= 6. Results: The Emoqol- 100 range 0-20 had a likelihood ratio (LR) of 25.2 for low mood compared with the BDST as the reference standard; and for Emoqol- 100 scores of 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, and 81-100 the LRs were 3.6, 1.7, 0.35, and 0.09, respectively. For the PHQ- 9, these were 10.1, 2.9, 1.3, 0.40, and 0.2, respectively. Any score <= 60 was associated with a low mood. Conclusion: The Emoqol- 100 appears to have high validity, so when it is low (<= 60), it is suggestive of a high PHQ- 9 or BDST score, and a mood issue probably exists. Emoqol- 100 could be helpful for busy primary care professionals and other clinicians.

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MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Kirurgi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Surgery (hsv//eng)

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