Despite federal recommendations that healthcare providers screen patients for depression, a new study found that only 4% of adults were screened for depression during primary care visits.
That low rate suggests missed opportunities to identify patients with depression and link them with care, according to a study by researchers from Rutgers University that was published in Psychiatric Services.
Screening for depression is now recommended as a part of routine primary care by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, but rarely occurred in a national sample of 33,653 visits to office-based primary care doctors, the study found.
