Clinical and Personality Correlates of a New Measure of Depression: A General Practice Study

Abstract

Objective: There is a need for a brief, efficient depression screening measure for general practice settings, particularly for identifying those who are at high risk of depression. We therefore test the usefulness of a measure developed in a sample of medically ill hospitalized patients. Method: More than 600 patients attending six Sydney general practices completed the Depression in the Medically Ill (DMI-10) measure, in conjunction with sociodemographic, depression history and personality profile measures. The impacts of sociodemographic, personality and lifetime depression variables on DMI-10 scores (and identified ‘cases’) were examined as a measure of its usefulness. Results: Gender did not influence depression scores, while there were slight associations between DMI-10 scores and age, marital and occupational status. Higher scores were returned by those with more severe, lengthier and perceived stressful medical illnesses. Using a predetermined cut-off score, 36% rated as putative ‘cases’, a prevalence almost identical to our general hospital study. ‘Cases’ were distinctly more likely to have had previous depressive episodes, to have sought help for such episodes and to have received antidepressant medication. They also scored higher on measures of anxious (anxious worrying and irritability) and self-critical (‘depressive personality’) personality styles. Conclusions: The DMI-10 appears useful as a brief and acceptable screen for depression in a general practice setting, both identifying those who are likely to be currently depressed and those with a background of previous depression.