Depression is a debilitating illness, and many cases go unrecognized and untreated. There are several depres­sion inventories and questionnaires avail­able for practitioners’ use, but many are long or require a specially trained rater or administrator.1-10

One well-known depression screen­ing questionnaire is the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). This instrument is a combination of a 2-item questionnaire and, if the 2-item questionnaire is positive, a 7-item questionnaire.2,3 Even if the PHQ-9 is used, it requires a trained healthcare professional to administer it, limiting its use.

On the other hand, the MINIDEP depres­sion screening tool that I developed can be self-administered by the patient (to read more click here: https://www.mdedge.com/psychiatry/article/103871/depression/minidep-simple-self-administered-depression-screening-tool