GuidelineCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne2025
Recommendation on screening adults for depression using a screening tool.
Guideline in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Screening tools for ruling out mood and anxiety disorders in adults in primary care: a rapid systematic review.BMC primary care · 2025Pooled it
- Patient-reported outcomes and experience measures in the Community Pharmacy setting: Theoretical and practical framework regarding the PROMs and PREMs.Farmaceuticos comunitarios · 2026Review
- From run-to-failure to condition-based care: a multi-domain framework for preventive psychiatry.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDepression negatively affects how a person feels, thinks, or behaves; is associated with impaired functioning in social and work settings; and can be associated with thoughts of suicide. This update of the 2013 Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care guideline provides an evidence-based recommendation about instrument-based screening for depression.
methodsFor this update, we commissioned a systematic review on benefits and harms of instrument-based screening (i.e., using a screening tool) for depression among adults. The systematic review covered relevant literature from October 2018 to May 2020, updated to January 2025 for trials, and to March 2025 for trial registries. We examined patient values and preferences via patient engagement surveys and focus groups; we engaged content experts and other interest holders at key points throughout the project. We used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to determine the certainty of evidence for each outcome and strength of the recommendation; adhered to the Guidelines International Network principles of managing competing interests; and followed Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation, and Guidance for Reporting Involvement of Patients and the Public reporting guidance. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend against screening all adults aged 18 years and older for depression using questionnaires (strong recommendation, very low-certainty evidence), based on evidence suggesting that depression screening using a screening tool has little to no effect on health. This recommendation does not apply to adults with a personal history, current diagnosis, or clinical suspicion of a diagnosis of depression or another mental health disorder. It does apply to those who may be at an elevated risk of depression.
interpretationThe recommendation against screening adults for depression using a screening tool emphasizes the importance of good clinical care, where clinicians ask about their patients' well-being and remain vigilant for symptoms and signs of depression.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.