DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project
In 2012, Dr. Thombs and Dr. Andrea Benedetti, Associate Professor at McGill, partnered with local and international experts to set up the DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project to gather and synthesize large datasets and evaluate the accuracy of depression screening tools using individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs). To date, the project has obtained CIHR funding to conduct analyses on the most commonly used depression screening tools in primary care (PHQ-9), perinatal care (EPDS), hospital care (HADS) and geriatric care (GDS). This project will allow us to provide practitioners and policy-makers with accurate, unbiased estimates of diagnostic accuracy for the screening tools, in order to better inform decisions on screening policy. Funded by 6 CIHR grants, the DEPRESSD collaboration now includes over 300 investigators from over 58 countries with numbers growing as more data are accrued. Large datasets for conducting IPDMAs and as a unique data sharing platform for the PHQ-9 (58 studies; 17,357 participants), HADS (83 studies; 19,839 participants), and EPDS (51 studies; 20,349 participants) with updates in process, as well as a new dataset on the GDS in progress.
To learn more about the DEPRESSD project, please visit the DEPRESSD website: https://www.depressd.ca/.
Living Systematic Review of Mental Health in COVID-19 :
On April 13, 2020, the DEPRESSD team initiated a new project - Living Systematic Review of Mental Health in COVID-19. Mental health during the current COVID-19 outbreak may be negatively affected by uncertainties associated with long-term personal, social, and societal implications of the crisis and from isolation due to social distancing and movement restrictions. Given the limitations in the quantity and quality of evidence available from previous infectious disease outbreaks and the different characteristics of the COVID-19 outbreak, synthesis of new mental health evidence that is being generated during COVID-19 is urgently needed.
The objectives of the living systematic review are to evaluate (1) changes in mental health symptoms from prior to COVID-19 to during the pandemic and across different time points in the pandemic; and (2) the effect of interventions on mental health symptoms during COVID-19.
Results of the living systematic review are updated and posted on the website: https://www.depressd.ca/covid-19-mental-health
Co-Principal Investigator :
Team Members:
Brooke Levis
Diana Jiang
Nahathai
Limveeraprajak
Danielle Rice
Kexin Li
Yutong
Wang
Yin Wu
Neil Faught
Sehar
Gul
Elsa-Lynn Nassar
Marc Parsons
Fahimeh
Abdollahi
Gabrielle
MacKinnon
Latest Publications:
(Names of members of research team staff and students in bold)
Journal publications:
Zhang J, Fischer F, Falk C, Wu Y, Alkan A, Sun Y, Gonzalez-Domínguez NP, Boruff JT, Cuijpers P, Gilbody S, Harel D, Ioannidis J, Levis B, Markham S, Patten SB, Takwoingi Y, Ziegelstein RC, Benedetti A, Thombs BD, the DEPRESSD HADS Collaboration. Comparison of the accuracy of latent factor and sum scoring of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to screen for major depression: An individual participant data meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2026;412:122051. Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032726009031?via%3Dihub
Levis B, Bhandari PM, Neupane D, Fan S, Sun Y, He C, Wu Y, Krishnan A, Negeri Z, Imran M, Rice DB, Riehm KE, Azar M, Levis AW, Boruff J, Cuijpers P, Gilbody S, Ioannidis JPA, Kloda LA, Patten SB, Ziegelstein RC, Harel D, Takwoingi Y, Markham S, Alamri SH, Amtmann D, Arroll B, Ayalon L, Baradaran HR, Beraldi A, Bernstein CN, Bhana A, Bombardier CH, Buji RI, Butterworth P, Carter G, Chagas MH, Chan JCN, Chan LF, Chibanda D, Clover K, Conway A, Conwell Y, Daray FM, de Man-van Ginkel JM, Fann JR, Fischer FH, Field S, Fisher JRW, Fung DSS, Gelaye B, Gholizadeh L, Goodyear-Smith F, Green EP, Greeno CG, Hall BJ, Hantsoo L, Härter M, Hides L, Hobfoll SE, Honikman S, Hyphantis T, Inagaki M, Iglesias-Gonzalez M, Jeon HJ, Jetté N, Khamseh ME, Kiely KM, Kohrt BA, Kwan Y, Lara MA, Levin-Aspenson HF, Liu SI, Lotrakul M, Loureiro SR, Löwe B, Luitel NP, Lund C, Marrie RA, Marsh L, Marx BP, McGuire A, Mohd Sidik S, Munhoz TN, Muramatsu K, Nakku JEM, Navarrete L, Osório FL, Pence BW, Persoons P, Petersen I, Picardi A, Pugh SL, Quinn TJ, Rancans E, Rathod SD, Reuter K, Rooney AG, Santos IS, Schram MT, Shaaban J, Shinn EH, Sidebottom A, Simning A, Spangenberg L, Stafford L, Sung SC, Suzuki K, Tan PLL, Taylor-Rowan M, Tran TD, Turner A, van der Feltz-Cornelis CM, van Heyningen T, Vöhringer PA, Wagner LI, Wang JL, Watson D, White J, Whooley MA, Winkley K, Wynter K, Yamada M, Zeng QZ, Zhang Y, Thombs BD, Benedetti A; Depression Screening Data (DEPRESSD) PHQ Group. Data-Driven Cutoff Selection for the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Depression Screening Tool. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(11):e2429630. Link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2826730
Harel D, Wu Y, Levis B, Fan S, Sun Y, Xu M, Rice DB, Boruff J, Markham S, Ioannidis JPA, Takwoingi Y, Patten SB, Ziegelstein RC, Cuijpers P, Gilbody S, Vigod S, Akena D, Benedetti A, Thombs BD; DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Collaboration. Comparison of Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Hospital Anxiety and Depression - Depression subscale scores by administration mode: An individual participant data differential item functioning meta-analysis. J Affect Disord. 2024;361:674-683. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38908554/
González-Domínguez NP, Wu Y, Fan S, Levis B, Sun Y, Gilbody S, Ioannidis JPA, Harel D, Vigod SN, Markham S, Ziegelstein RC, Cuijpers P, Patten SB, Boruff JT, Thombs BD, Benedetti A; DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) GDS Author Group. Individual patient data meta-analysis estimates the minimal detectable change of the Geriatric Depression Scale-15. J Clin Epidemiol. 2024 Sep;173:111443. Link: https://www.jclinepi.com/article/S0895-4356(24)00199-9/fulltext
Study protocols:
Qiu L, Parsons M, Levis B, Fan S, Sun Y, Amiri L, Harel D, Markham S, Vigod SN, Ziegelstein RC, Wu Y, Cuijpers P, Gilbody S, Patten SB, Benedetti A, Thombs BD. Depression prevalence based on the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale compared to Structured Clinical Interview for DSM classification: Protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. Open Science Framework. October 05, 2022. https://osf.io/bjaz7
Wu Y, Gonzalez-Dominguez NP, Levis B, Fan S, Sun Y, Gilbody S, Ioannidis JPA, Harel D, Vigod SN, Markham S, Ziegelstein RC, Cuijpers P, Patten SB, Benedetti A, Thombs BD. Minimal clinically important difference of the PHQ-9, HADS-D, EPDS, and GDS depression symptom scales: protocol for a systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis. Open Science Framework. September 09, 2022. https://osf.io/xbyvh
Harel D, Wu Y, Levis B, Fan S, Sun Y, Markham S, Ioannidis JPA, Takwoingi Y, Patten SB, Ziegelstein RC, Cuijpers P, Gilbody S, Vigod S, Akena D, Benedetti A, Thombs BD. Comparison of depression symptom scores obtained via conventional in-person and alternative modes of administration through differential item functioning. Open Science Framework. June 21, 2022. https://osf.io/znsbv
Nassar EL, Levis B, Rice DB, Benedetti A, Thombs BD. Transparency and Completeness of Reporting of Depression Screening Tool Accuracy Studies: a Meta-research Review of Adherence to the STARD Statement. Open Science Framework. July 05, 2021. https://osf.io/5tvf3
Qiu X, Wu Y, Sun Y, Levis B, Boruff J, Cuijpers, Ioannidis JPA, Markham S, Ziegelstein RC, Vigod SN, Benedetti A, Thombs BD. Equivalence of the Accuracy of 9-and 10-item Versions of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale for Screening to Detect Major Depression among Pregnant and Postpartum Women: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis. Open Science Framework. June 16, 2021. https://osf.io/n9mfq