depression outcome scale

Desirable Features of a Self-Report Depression Outcome Scale

There is no shortage of measures to be used to monitor outcome. Two perspectives are of primary importance in deciding which measure to choose—that of the patient and the clinician. Patients should find the measure user-friendly and the directions easy to follow. The questions should be understandable and relevant to the patient’s problem. The scale should be brief, taking no more than 2 to 3 minutes to complete, so that upon routine administration at follow-up visits patients are not inconvenienced by the need to come for their appointment 10-15 minutes early in order to complete the measure. Brief scales can be feasibly completed at each follow-up visit in the same way that blood pressure and weight are routinely assessed in primary care settings for patients being treated for hypertension and obesity.

The instrument should provide clinicians with clinically useful information, and improve the efficiency of conducting their clinical evaluation; thus, the measure should have practical value to the practicing clinician. Of course, clinicians need to be able to trust the information provided by any instrument they use. Consequently, outcome measures for depression should have a sound basis in psychometrics, demonstrating good reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change. Clinicians and clinics should also find the instrument user-friendly; it should be easy to administer and score with minimal training.