Detection and diagnosis of psychiatric disorders in primary medical care settings

During the last decade, an increasing amount of research has focused on dev eloping efficient and reliable methods for detecting and diagnosing psychia tric disorders within the practical constraints of day-to-day primary medic al practice. Specifically, clinical investigators have translated the psych iatric nomenclature into streamlined assessment tools that are geared towar d the most common psychiatric illnesses in primary care populations. This a rticle reviews the most effective of these tools for depression, anxiety, c ognitive impairment, and substance-related problems. In each section, speci al attention is paid to the challenge of diagnosing these illnesses in olde r individuals.