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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Increase the proportion of primary care visits where adolescents and adults are screened for depression — MHMD‑08 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), CDC/NCHS

Baseline: 8.5 percent of primary care office visits included screening for depression in persons aged 12 years and over in 2016

Target: 13.5 percent

Numerator
Number of primary care physician office visits by patients aged 12 years and over that included depression screening.
Denominator
Number of primary care physician office visits by patients aged 12 years and over.
Target-setting method
Minimal statistical significance
Target-setting method details
Minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline.
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. The standard error was used to calculate a target based on minimal statistical significance, assuming the same standard error for the target as for the baseline. This method was used because it was statistically different from the baseline.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)

From the 2016 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey patient record:

Numerator:
Were examinations/screenings ordered or provided at this visit? (A check box is provided for "depression.")

Methodology notes

Primary care physicians include the following specialties: general/family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics/gynecology. The survey questionnaire for the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS; the Patient Record Form) includes an item called Diagnostic/Screening Services. This item comprises a series of checkboxes and several open-ended response fields. Respondents are instructed to mark all services ordered or provided at the sampled visit.

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Modified, which includes core objectives that are continuing from Healthy People 2020 but underwent a change in measurement.
Changes between HP2020 and HP2030
This objective differs from the related Healthy People 2020 objectives in that it is a composite of objective MHMD-11.1, which tracked primary care physician office visits where adults aged 19 years and over were screened for depression, and MHMD-11.2, which tracked primary care physician office visits where adolescents aged 12 to 18 years were screened for depression.