E-mail Catches Some Cases of College Depression

May 29, 2010— -- E-mail may be a simple and cheap way to screen college students for depression, but it's not likely to motivate them to seek treatment, researchers said at the American Psychiatric Association in New Orleans.

A commonly-used depression screening tool sent in e-mail blasts to students at four colleges put the prevalence of major depressive disorder at 14.5 percent, Dr. Irene Shyu of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and colleagues reported.

But few students who screened positive for depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-Item (PHQ-9) actually used the online educational resources or on-campus peer health support groups provided in the e-mail.

"It did not increase their help-seeking," Shyu said. "Perhaps we'll have to tailor [those resources] more specifically toward each college."

Because of its ease of administration and low costs, the researchers decided to investigate how useful e-mail would be in screening college students for depression. They also wanted to assess whether providing online educational resources could push students to seek help.

Shyu and colleagues reached out to campus organizations at four colleges, and were given access to the e-mail lists of graduate and undergraduate students at each school. They then sent out a demographic survey and the PHQ-9 screening tool to students on the list-servs.

Students were given a chance to win a $200 gift card to encourage participation; a total of 631 took the survey.

As soon as students completed the questionnaires, they were given their real-time results. Scores equal to or greater than 10 on the PHQ-9 were indicative of major depressive disorder.

The researchers found that the overall prevalence of depression was 14.5 percent -- significantly greater than the 10.3 percent reported in national population surveys, they said.

In the overall patient population, 21.7 percent reported a history of depression, and 9.4 percent were currently receiving treatment -- 40 percent had therapy, 30 percent were on medication, and 30 percent had a combination of both treatment modalities.