A web-based system for early detection of symptoms of depression

Background: According to data reported by the World Health Organization Depression is a common disorder, affecting about 121 million people worldwide. The Centers for Disease Control report in the US an estimated 10% of the general population will experience a depressive episode in a given year. Delay in diagnosis and subsequent delay in treatment can result in patients’ disruption of quality of life.;Methods: The purpose of this study was to determine if a web based system can be effectively utilized for the early detection of depressive symptoms. A web application called the Patient Data Management System (PDMS) was developed and can be access on web via: www.pdmsonline.com. We implemented the Center of Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) on the website. Participants were presented with registration, inclusion criteria questions followed by an electronic informed consent process. In the event, the participants provided electronic consent they were directed to series of demographic questions and the CES-D screening.;Results: In total there were 394 participants in the study, 65.5 percent (n=258) were female and 34.5 percent (n=136) were male. In summary 89.9 percent of the study population (n=354) was not depicting any depressive symptoms according to the CES-D score. The frequency of positive depression screening (indicated by a CED-S score of higher than 16) was observed in 10.16 percent (n = 40) of the total population. There was a significant effect of gender on higher CES-D score at p <.05 level for the subjects in the depression screening study [ F (1, 392) = 11.34, P = .001]. Post hoc comparisons were conducted via Welch and Brown-Forsythe test and results were confirmed to be significant at p =.000.;Conclusions: There is a general consensus in the medical community that significant improvement in prognosis is linked with the patient’s awareness and self management of their care. The internet provides a powerful medium to promote disease education and to conduct preemptive screenings. Data from this study are encouraging, as patient’s use of screening and diagnosis web based systems may foster early diagnosis and presentations, resulting in early treatment and subsequently, an improved prognosis.