AUTOMATED TELEPHONE SCREENING SURVEY FOR DEPRESSION

Objective.-To test the application of fully automated telephone screen ing using computerized digital voice recordings and touch-tone respons es to assess symptoms of depression. Design.-A cross-sectional study o f a 2-week-long telephone survey. Setting.-Toll-free telephone calls p laced from home, work, or school to a central telephone/computer syste m at a telecommunications company in the Boston, Mass, area. Participa nts.-A total of 1812 participants called the system. Of these, 278 wer e students and faculty at a large midwestern state university, 725 wer e employees of a large northeastern high-technology firm, and 809 did not identify which site they were calling from. Main Outcome Measures. -The 20-question multiple-choice Zung Depression Scale was used to scr een for depressive symptoms, and additional questions gathered demogra phic and caller satisfaction information. Results.-No technical proble ms were encountered during the trial. Of 1812 callers, 1597 (88.1%) co mpleted all questions. Of these, 412 callers (25.8%) met criteria for ''moderate or marked'' depression and another 194 (12.1%) met criteria for ''severe or extreme'' depression. The majority of callers scoring positive for depression had received no previous treatment for depres sion. Of callers who completed the screening questionnaire, 74.6% repo rted the call to have been al least ''moderately'' helpful. Conclusion .-Readily available low-cost technology provides a fully automated, wi dely accessible, and confidential method of screening for a common men tal illness.