SynthesisBritish journal of cancer2008
Are one or two simple questions sufficient to detect depression in cancer and palliative care? A Bayesian meta-analysis.
Synthesis in British journal of cancer, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The Difficult Task of Diagnosing Depression in Elderly People with Cancer: A Systematic Review.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2021Pooled it
- Accuracy of one or two simple questions to identify alcohol-use disorder in primary care: a meta-analysis.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2014Pooled it
- Optimal cut-off score for diagnosing depression with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9): a meta-analysis.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2012Pooled it
- Case identification of depression in patients with chronic physical health problems: a diagnostic accuracy meta-analysis of 113 studies.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2011Pooled it
- Risk of bias from inclusion of patients who already have diagnosis of or are undergoing treatment for depression in diagnostic accuracy studies of screening tools for depression: systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2011Pooled it
- Screening for emotional distress in cancer patients: a systematic review of assessment instruments.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2009Pooled it
- Trial
- The association of depression and pain with health-related quality of life, disability, and health care use in cancer patients.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2010Trial
- A dyadic daily diary investigation of partner-schema structures on relational well-being and depressed mood.Journal of social and personal relationships · 2026Article
- Putting CATs and item banks to work: How to construct predictive and sensitive PROMIS screeners for use in ambulatory oncology.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Is Your Pregnancy Unwanted or Unhappy? Psychological Correlates of a Cluster of Pregnant Women Who Need Professional Care.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Relationships between Depression, Fear of Childbirth, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms among Pregnant Women under the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- A Focus Group Study of Palliative Physician and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist Perceptions of Dealing with Depression in the Dying.Journal of palliative care · 2022Article
- Development of a Scale for COVID-19 Stigma and Its Psychometric Properties: A Study among Pregnant Japanese Women.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Predicting Anxiety in Routine Palliative Care Using Bayesian-Inspired Association Rule Mining.Frontiers in digital health · 2021Article
- Palliative care for patients with esophageal cancer: a narrative review.Annals of translational medicine · 2020Review
- Determining the prevalence of palliative needs and exploring screening accuracy of depression and anxiety items of the integrated palliative care outcome scale - a multi-centre study.BMC palliative care · 2020Observational
- Association between depression and healthcare expenditures among elderly cancer patients.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
- Improving management of comorbidity in patients with colorectal cancer using comprehensive medical assessment: a pilot study.BMC cancer · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the value of one or two simple verbal questions in the detection of depression in cancer settings. This study is a systematic literature search of abstract and full text databases to January 2008. Key authors were contacted for unpublished studies. Seventeen analyses were found. Of these, 13 were conducted in late stage palliative settings. (1) Single depression question: across nine studies, the prevalence of depression was 16%. A single 'depression' question enabled the detection of depression in 160 out of 223 true cases, a sensitivity of 72%, and correctly reassured 964 out of 1166 non-depressed cancer sufferers, a specificity of 83%. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 44% and the negative predictive value (NPV) 94%. (2) Single interest question: there were only three studies examining the 'loss-of-interest' question, with a combined prevalence of 14%. This question allowed the detection of 60 out of 72 cases (sensitivity 83%) and excluded 394 from 459 non-depressed cases (specificity of 86%). The PPV was 48% and the NPV 97%. (3) Two questions (low mood and low interest): five studies examined two questions with a combined prevalence of 17%. The two-question combination facilitated a diagnosis of depression in 138 of 151 true cases (sensitivity 91%) and gave correct reassurance to 645 of 749 non-cases (specificity 86%). The PPV was 57% and the NPV 98%. Simple verbal methods perform well at excluding depression in the non-depressed but perform poorly at confirming depression. The 'two question' method is significantly more accurate than either single question but clinicians should not rely on these simple questions alone and should be prepared to assess the patient more thoroughly.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.