Psychological Tests Can Help Medical Professionals Meet New Industry Recommendations

• 5% to 9% of adults in the U.S. have depression
• 50% of these patients go undiagnosed and untreated in primary care
• Depression costs $43 billion per year, of which $17 billion are in lost workdays

As part of its recommendation, the task force also advises clinics that screen for depression to have systems in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, effective treatment and follow-up.¹

The science behind screeners

Standardized psychological tests can help primary care physicians comply with the task force’s recommendations effectively. However, medical professionals may have concerns about using psychological screeners, believing that they are not as empirically based as medical tests.

In fact, standardized psychological tests are developed using the science of psychometrics, which dictates that the test be:

• Valid (The test should measure what it is supposed to measure.)
• Reliable (The test should give the same results every time.)
• Normed (The test should provide norms that serve as clinical benchmarks to which a patient can be compared.)²