Logo image
Back
Examining the effect of the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 instruments and impact on patient referrals
Dissertation   Open access

Examining the effect of the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 instruments and impact on patient referrals

Stacy Berlekamp Spatar
Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.), Drexel University
Jul 2018
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/D8108R
pdf
Spatar_Stacy_2018349.30 kBDownloadView
PDF Open Access Open Access (License Unspecified)

Abstract

Soldiers Anxiety Disorders Chronic Pain Nursing
The purpose of this project was to educate staff on screening tools for anxiety and depression, to consistently use these tools amongst chronic pain patients, and to examine the impact their use has on referrals to mental health. Chronic pain is a wide spread problem and is the leading chronic health care condition in the United States, greater than heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined (AAPM, 2011). The plan was to implement a practice change to include the consistent use of measurement tools to screen for anxiety and depression and to examine their effect on the number of mental health referrals. Symptom clusters of anxiety and depression are often associated with chronic pain and one pertinent study revealed that out of 250 veterans with chronic pain that 45% screened positive for one or more of the five types of common anxiety disorders and those with anxiety disorders and had significantly higher levels of pain (Pedersen, 2013). One study took place in Michigan through telephone inquiry which determined that 21.9% of participants had chronic pain and 35% of those also had depression, amongst those were younger participants who were more likely to have both depression and chronic pain compared to just having chronic pain alone (Miller & Cano, 2009). The use of reliable tools to screen for anxiety and depression were reviewed and it was determined that when completed correctly the General Anxiety Disorder -7 (GAD-7) is deemed to be highly reliable for screening of anxiety disorders (Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams, & Lowe, 2006). Also deemed reliable for determining the severity of depression is the commonly used patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke, Spitzer, & Williams, 2001). The concept is that once the standardized use of the screening tools are implemented, referrals to mental health will increase.

Metrics

70 File views/ downloads
70 Record Views

Details

Logo image