Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents Essay
Defining and Refining the Problem: Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents (PHQ-A) in Increasing Screening Rates for Teenage Depression
Adolescents are one population demographic that has been affected significantly by depression and the accompanying problem of suicidality. At this developmental stage, the teenagers are discovering themselves and searching for identity and this makes them very easy to influence. Because of this, they end up making very poor life decisions most of the time. The result is usually teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and substance abuse. Drug and substance use will have the effect of making the other two more likely to happen. When the money to fund the addiction runs out, the teenager will also resort to criminality to fund the habit. All these will lead to problems with parents, guardians, and law enforcement authorities leading to serious depression. According to Young et al. (2010), in a given population of adolescents, up to 15 percent will suffer depression in their lives. Also, on random screening, about 5% will be positive for depression. This paper asks whether having clinical practice guidelines advocating for the use of the Patient Health Questionnaire screening tool for adolescents (PHQ-A) will increase the willingness and ability of providers to screen adolescents for depression. Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents Essay
Recognizing the Problem in Practice and the Existing Gap
The first step to answering the question posed is to separate the problem that exists in practice. This is problem identification that is the key to finding solutions in evidence-based practice (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2019; Stannard, 2021). Identification of this problem can also be helped by targeted and focused questioning of common practice (Twa, 2016). The problem in this case is rampant and increasing cases of teenage depression and suicidality. The gap that exists is that providers are not as enthusiastic as they should be in screening teenagers for depression (Unruh & Hofler, 2016). The question then arises as to whether the providers would be more willing to do so if the clinical practice recommendations suggested the use of the PHQ-A in adolescent screening for depression. Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents Essay
The Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents (PHQ-A)
Screening for adolescent depression will be done by practitioners such as psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP) using the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents or PHQ-A, according to the clinical practice guideline (Johnson, 2002). The fact that it is specifically designed to assess the degree of depression in adolescents influences the adoption of this assessment tool. Teenagers with a score of 10-14 or those with moderate depression, 15-19, or those with moderately severe depression, and 20-27, or those with severe depression, will be of concern for this exam. Screening for depression in teenagers will become standard evidence-based practice in the future, with the recommendation of this tool.
Personal View
It is my view that the adoption of the PHQ-A as the recommended screening tool for adolescent depression by clinical practice guidelines will increase enthusiasm among providers. The reason for this conclusion is that the PHQ tool was specifically modified to suit the developmental stage that is adolescence. This means that some of the questions in the tool were structured to reflect the realities that adolescents face. The screening rates will therefore increase with the recommendation and embracing of the PHQ-A. Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents Essay
References
Johnson, J. (2002). PHQ-9 modified for adolescents. https://missionhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Adolescent-Depression-Screening-PHQ-A-Form.pdf
Melnyk, B.M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing & healthcare: A guide to best practice, 4th ed. Wolters Kluwer.
Stannard, D. (2021). Problem identification: The first step in evidence-based practice. AORN Journal, 113(4), 377?378. https://doi.org/10.1002/aorn.13359
Twa, M.D. (2016). Evidence-based clinical practice: Asking focused questions (PICO). Optometry and Vision Science, 93(10), 1187?1188. https://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001006
Unruh, L., & Hofler, R. (2016). Predictors of gaps in patient safety and quality in U.S. hospitals. Health Services Research, 51(6), 2258-2281. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.12468
Young, J.F., Miller, M.R., & Khan, N. (2010). Screening and managing depression in adolescents. Adolescent Health, Medicine, and Therapeutics, 1, 87-95. Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire Modified for Adolescents Essay
