Use of the patient care monitor to screen for depression in adult cancer patients interviewed with the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV

Objective: To evaluate the Patient Care Monitor (PCM1.0) Acute Distress and Despair normalized T scores as indicators of a diagnosis of Major Depression according to the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID). Methods: Subjects were 21 adult cancer patients identified by treating community oncologists as having significant emotional distress matched on age, cancer type, treatment history, and sex to 21 patients not having significant distress. All completed e/tablet PCM 1.0 and SCID administered by trained interviewers. Unweighted kappa and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analyses were used to assess scale properties. Results: Agreement between SCID Major Depression and Acute Distress and Despair (T⩾65) were kappa=0.751 and 0.755, respectively. ROC area under the curve values for these two scales were 0.967 (SE±0.03) and 0.942 (SE±0.03), respectively, with optimal cut points of T=61 and 63, respectively. Conclusions: Under conditions of preselected extreme groups, PCM 1.0 Acute Distress and Despair T scores are reasonable screening indicators of clinical depression in cancer patients. PCM 1.0 provides an efficient method for point-of-care screening of depression in community oncology clinics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.