A Unique and Rigorous Data Platform for Depression Screening Research

2023/03/09

Dr. Sarah Markham, a patient partner on our team, recently published an opinion piece in BMJ in response to our team’s latest publication titled “Comparison of mental health symptoms before and during the covid-19 pandemic: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of 134 cohorts.” The article emphasized the importance of high-quality research in the field of mental health. Read the full article here.

2023/03/08

A living systematic review on COVID-19 mental health changes, led by Sheryl and co-authored by other LSR members, has been published in the BMJ. This review evaluated longitudinal studies that compared mental health outcomes prior to the pandemic and during COVID-19. The team analyzed data from 134 cohorts of people from 31 countries. They found that there are no or minimal changes in mental health among the general population and 11 subgroups (e.g., age groups, sex or gender, pre-existing medical or mental health conditions). One exception is among women for whom there were consistent negative small changes across outcome domains. The results suggest that mental health in COVID-19 is more nuanced than previously assumed and that this is largely a story of resilience. To read the paper in BMJ [LINK] and view the infographic [LINK], click on the provided links.

2023/01/31

Dr. Wu and the team compared the accuracy of the 7-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression subscale (HADS-D) with the 14-item full scale (HADS-T) to screen for depression. In this study, 20,700 participants (2,285 major depression cases) from 98 studies were included. We found that sensitivity and specificity of the HADS-T were not superior to the HADS-D for detecting major depression. Thus, using the full 14-item HADS-T for depression screening would require additional time and patient burden without improving accuracy. Read more about the publication here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36689386/.

2023/01/17

We are excited to share that Marc Parsons (McGill PhD candidate in biostatistics and DEPRESSD team member) has been granted a McGill University Health Centre Research Institute (RI-MUHC) 2023 Studentship for his proposed thesis work entitled: Using flexible regression methods to analyse depression trajectories in an individual participant data meta-analysis of pregnant and postpartum women. This studentship was awarded based on the basis of academic performance, publications, research experience, training environment, and the merits of the proposed research project.

2022/11/04

Palak Desai recently joined our team as a part-time research assistant. She’s pursuing a M.Sc. in Public Health at McGill University. Palak’s research interests involve addressing challenges related to social aspects of health. Click here to read more about Palak!

2022/10/12

Our team is currently seeking an undergraduate research volunteer to work on the COVID-19 LSR mental health project. Please read the PDF for more details!

 

The tasks of the research volunteer will include:

• Reviewing scientific publications and screening for eligible studies.

• Extracting published results based on pre-developed coding manuals.

 

The ideal candidate will meet the following qualifications:

• Enrolled in an undergraduate program in psychology or health sciences.

• Relevant research experience in health sciences is an asset.

• Good interpersonal skills and a strong capacity for teamwork.

• Excellent organizational and communication skills.

 

To apply: Interested candidates should submit (1) a cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript to Suiqiong Fan (Suiqiong.fan@mail.mcgill.ca), the COVID-19 Living Systematic Review Project Coordinator.

 

The position will remain open until filled.

2022/09/15

We have several open positions for the DEPRESSD and COVID-19 LSR projects. Please see PDF for more details.

•             Full-time Analytical Research Coordinator [PDF]

•             Full-time Biostatistics PhD student [PDF]

•             Full-time Epidemiology PhD student [PDF]

•             Full-time Postdoctoral Fellow [PDF]

•             Part-time Research Assistant [PDF]

 

The positions will remain open until filled.

2022/09/12

Kexin, our research assistant in the DEPRESSD team, recently received an offer from the Master of Public Health program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health. She will be starting her semester in January 2023. Congratulations, Kexin!

2022/09/07

A meta-research review led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar and co-authored by other team members, including Brooke Levis, Marieke Neyer, and Danielle Rice, was recently published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. The team assessed the completeness and transparency of reporting of recently published depression screening accuracy studies. A total of 106 studies were included and assessed for consistency with the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (STARD) statement requirements. Overall, the team found that recently published depression screening accuracy studies are not optimally reported, with individual studies adequately reporting an average of approximately a third of the items in the STARD checklist. Of the 34 STARD items or sub-items, there were 8 items adequately reported, 7 partially reported, 11 inadequately reported, and 4 not applicable in ≥ 50% of included studies; the remaining 4 items had mixed reporting. The team concluded that there is a need for attention to more fulsome reporting of methodological conduct of these studies, mostly related to test methods, test results, and analysis aspects. In order to improve the quality of reporting in depression screening accuracy studies, the research community, journal editors, reviewers, and funders should endorse and implement adherence to STARD. To learn more about the study, click here!

2022/07/14

We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD team was awarded a 5-year funding (1.4 million) by CIHR for “The DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project: A Novel International Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis Collaboration to Advance Research on Depression Screening Tool Accuracy, Develop Statistical Methodology, and Conduct Meta-Research.” This grant will allow our team to update datasets for depression screening tools and conduct related studies in three categories: clinical, development and evaluation of Statistical Methods for IPDMA (Individual participant data meta-analysis) , and meta-research.

2022/07/06

We are happy to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper on sex and gender differences in mental health symptom changes from pre-pandemic to early-pandemic is now published in Scientific Reports. This paper, led by Tiffany, identified 12 studies that reported dichotomized sex or gender data both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessed outcomes included anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, general mental health, and stress. The paper concludes that mental health outcomes did not differ or were worse by small amounts among females/women compared to males/men during early COVID-19. Mental health changes should continue to be monitored longitudinally in COVID-19 taking into consideration sex and gender, as well as other population subgroups. Read more about the publication here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-14746-1.

2022/06/13

Lu Qiu recently joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs research intern. She studies biomedical engineering at South China University of Technology. She aspires to pursue future studies in the field of biostatistics. Read more about Lu here.

2022/05/31

Lara Amiri recently joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs intern. She studies psychology at the Georg August University of Göttingen, Germany. Lara aspires to study clinical psychology and clinical data science in the future. Read more about Lara here.

2022/05/13

Nadia Gonzalez Dominguez joined DEPRESSD team as an intern in April 2022. They received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Superior Studies (ITESM) in 2018 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Nadia is currently studying a Master of Science in Public Health at McGill University. They worked in the field of neuroscience and data analysis, and medical device manufacturing industry. Nadia’s interests include epidemiological studies of mental health, social epidemiology, and public health policy. Visit Nadia's page for more information.

2022/04/13

Team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar was recently awarded the McGill Post-Graduate Student Society Travel Award to attend the Canadian Psychological Association's annual conference being held this June in Calgary. Elsa will be presenting results from her master's thesis work on the methodological quality and reporting transparency of depression screening accuracy studies through three posters and an oral presentation. Congratulations, Elsa!

2022/04/12

We are excited to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper, led by Amina, on effects of mental health interventions among people hospitalized with COVID-19 , is now published in General hospital Psychiatry. This paper identified 47 randomized controlled trials from 3 countries, of which 21 tested the effects of psychological interventions, 5 physical and breathing exercises, and 21 a combination of interventions. It concludes that due to poor quality reporting there is insufficient evidence to make clinical recommendations based on included trials. Read more about the paper here.

2022/04/05

We are thrilled to share that our DEPRESSD team was awarded a 1-year grant ($237,861) of New Frontiers in Research Fund. 2021 Innovative Approaches to Research in the Pandemic Context by Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for our project “Comparison of depression research diagnoses and symptom scores obtained via conventional in-person and alternative methodologies”. This funding will allow the team to robustly evaluate how data collection methods, especially alternative methods increasingly used in COVID-19 may influence sensitive mental health assessments. Thanks to Yin for leading this!