2024/03/07

Dr. Thombs was quoted in a Washington Post article on menopause and depression. Similar to our team’s work, the article scrutinizes evidence and concludes that the menopause depression link is not likely much greater than for other health conditions that people experience. Read the full article here.

2024/03/06

Congratulations to Brett who received the Alex Leighton Award from the Canadian Association of Psychiatric Epidemiology (CAPE) and the Canadian Psychiatry Association (CPA) for his work in mental health epidemiology: https://www.cpa-apc.org/awards/annual-collaborative-awards/. He will be presented with the award at November’s CPA/CAPE meeting.

2024/01/09

Meira Golberg joined the SPIN and DEPRESSD teams as a full-time Biostatistician in January 2024. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Biology at McGill University and Master of Mathematics in Biostatistics at the University of Waterloo. Meira has worked on a wide range of projects focused on measuring predictors of cognition, physical and mental well-being, mental health and unmet healthcare needs. She will be supporting the SPIN and DEPRESSD teams in their methodologic aims and associated data analyses. Read more about Meira here.

2023/10/17

Dr. Jieting (Jenny) Zhang joined the DEPRESSD team as a visiting professor in October. She is an associate professor in School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, China. Her research interests include the influence of childhood adversity on mental health and mindfulness-based interventions. Read more about Jenny here.

2023/09/12

Dr. Yin Wu and the team reviewed data contribution to the four depression screening tool accuracy individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs). We found that 65% of 456 eligible studies contributed data overall; data contribution was associated with multiple characteristics of primary studies. Over 80% of 161 non-contributions were because authors were unreachable or data were unavailable. This was the largest study to investigate data contribution to IPDMAs that has examined characteristics of eligible studies and the first in the field of diagnostic test accuracy, which may support future research to promote data contribution to IPDMAs. Read more about the publication here: link.

2023/07/17

Drs Thombs and Rice, along with colleagues Dr. Sarah Markham and Dr. Roy Ziegelstein, were commissioned by the BMJ to discuss new screening recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. See the editorial here: LINK.

2023/06/24

Team members Dr. Yin Wu (moderator), Letong Li, Kexin Li and Diana Jiang (co-presenters) recently presented their symposium titled “Mental Health Intervention Effects in the General Population and Among Youth and Older Adults to Inform Management Strategies During and Post-COVID-19: Evidence from an Ongoing Living Systematic Review” at the 2023 CPA convention in Toronto. Kexin also presented her poster on loneliness among older adults during COVID-19. Congratulations to the team!

2023/06/15

Gabriel joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs research intern in June 2023. She majors in global health at the University of Hong Kong, where she has worked with various research teams. Gabriel’s research interests include psychiatric epidemiology and Mendelian randomization. Read more about Gabriel here.

2023/06/08

Daniel Henao-Díaz joined the DEPRESSD team as a Mitacs intern in June 2023. He has worked as a physician after receiving his medical degree from the University of Caldas (Colombia) in 2017. Currently, Daniel is studying mathematics and physics education at the Catholic University of Manizales (Colombia). Learn more about Daniel here.

2023/05/15

Brienne Tougas joined the DEPRESSD team as a research assistant in May 2023. She is currently studying psychology at McGill, where she gained research experience in education and mental health. Brienne wants to pursue a doctoral degree in psychology and conduct research on how traumatic life events can impact mental health and well-being, particularly in youth. Read more about Brienne here.

2023/05/03

Monica D’Onofrio joined the DEPRESSD team in April as a summer Research Assistant. She completed her BSc in Physiology at McGill in December, where she worked in cancer research. She’s interested in mental health and aims to pursue a degree in clinical psychology. Read more about Monica here.

2023/04/14

Dr. Afra Alkan has joined the DEPRESSD team as a postdoctoral fellow in April. She completed her PhD in Biostatistics at Ankara University in 2022 in Ankara, Türkiye. Her research interests include evaluation of diagnostic accuracy measures, multivariate analysis, longitudinal data analysis, and R programming. Learn more about Afra here.

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.

2022/09/15

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]

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 join 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.

2022/05/13

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!

2022/04/01

Another review, led by team member Elsa-Lynn Nassar and co-authored by team members Dr. Brooke Levis, Marieke Neyer, and Danielle Rice, was published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. The team examined 106 primary studies on the accuracy of depression screening tools. The team found that only 11% described a viable sample size calculation and 34% provided reasonably accurate confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, the number of included individuals in most studies was too small to generate reasonably precise accuracy estimates; of 103 studies where 95% CIs were provided or could be calculated, only 7% had sensitivity CI widths of ≤10%, whereas 58 (56%) had widths of ≥21%. The team recommends that future studies of the diagnostic accuracy of depression screening tools should conduct precision-based a priori sample size calculations to either attain desired precision levels or to understand limitations prior to initiating a study. To read the full article, click here here!

2022/03/24

We are excited to share that Dr. Yin Wu (DEPRESSD’s postdoctoral research fellow) has earned the McGill Medstar Award for Trainees for her publication in BMJ entitled: Accuracy of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Depression Subscale (HADS-D) to screen for major depression: systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis, in recognition of the excellent research carried out in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. The winning papers were selected to demonstrate excellence at all levels and to represent all disciplines of our training programs in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.

2022/03/14

We are happy to share that the COVID-19 LSR team's paper on the effects of COVID-19 mental health interventions among children, adolescents, and adultsis now published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. This paper, led by Olivia Bonardi, included randomised-controlled trials of interventions to address COVID-19 mental health challenges among people not hospitalised or quarantined due to COVID-19 infection. It identified 9 eligible trials, including 3 well-conducted, well-reported trials that tested interventions designed specifically for COVID-19 mental health challenges, plus 6 other trials with high risk of bias and reporting concerns, all of which tested standard interventions (e.g., individual or group therapy, expressive writing, mindfulness recordings) minimally adapted or not specifically adapted for COVID-19. The paper concluded that interventions that adapt evidence-based strategies for feasible delivery may be effective to address mental health in COVID-19. More well-conducted trials, including for children and adolescents, are needed. Read more about the publication here.

2022/03/04

We are excited to share that Diana et al.’s Letter to Editors: The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale in patients with systemic sclerosis: a psychometric and factor analysis in a monocentric cohort, is now published in the Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology. The letter describes that mental health symptom questionnaires like the HADS are not intended nor calibrated to estimate prevalence; in most cases, they tend to overestimate the true prevalence of psychiatric disorders, often dramatically. It also discusses the evidence that would be needed to recommend mental health screening, which is labour intensive and can lead to unnecessary harms, like all screening programs. Read the letter here.

2022/02/28

A meta-research study led by Elsa-Lynn Nassar (MSc Trainee) and co-authored by other team members, including Dr. Brooke Levis (Research Associate) and Danielle Rice (PhD Candidate), was recently accepted for publication in General Hospital Psychiatry. The aims of the study were to assess (1) the proportion of recently published studies of depression screening accuracy that appropriately excluded individuals with a confirmed depression diagnosis or who were already undergoing treatment and (2) whether this has improved since the last review of studies published in 2013-2015. A total of 106 primary studies were identified and assessed. Eighteen of 106 (17%) studies appropriately excluded already diagnosed or treated individuals, representing an 11% improvement since the last review. The proportion of depression screening accuracy studies that appropriately exclude individuals already known to have depression remains low. This may significantly bias research findings intended to inform clinical practice, where known depression cases are not screened. To learn more about the study, click here!

2022/02/14

We are excited to share that our LSR team was awarded a two-year grant ($368,998) by CIHR’s Addressing the Wider Health Impacts of COVID-19 program for conducting our project “Loneliness Among Older Adults in COVID-19: A Living Systematic Review of Changes in Loneliness from Pre-COVID-19, Association with Mental Health Outcomes, and Effects of Interventions.” This funding will allow the team to continue to update its synthesis of evidence on mental health in COVID-19 and to specifically evaluate changes in loneliness and the effectiveness of interventions to reduce or prevent loneliness in older adults during COVID-19. 

2022/01/18

Enqi Wang and Hassan Khan, as research volunteers, joined the DEPRESSD team in January 2022. Enqi is an undergraduate psychology student with a minor in neuroscience at McGill. She is passionate about pursuing future studies in the field of clinical psychology. Hassan graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts (honours) degree in Psychology. He hopes to pursue a career as scientist-practitioner in the near future. His research interests broadly include mental health, meta-research, and health services research. Visit Enqi's and Hassan’s pages to learn more about them. 

2021/10/05

We are happy to share that the DEPRESSD Team's updated IPDMA on the accuracy of the PHQ-9 screening tool has been published in the BMJ. The project, led by Dr. Zelalem Negeri, combined individual participant data from 100 studies (>44,000 participants) to evaluate the screening accuracy of the PHQ-9. The combined sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 were maximized at a cut-off of >=10. Specificity was similar across reference standards, but sensitivity in studies with semi-structured interviews was higher than with fully structured reference standards and with the MINI. Moreover, specificity was higher for men and older participants. The full article can be accessed here. Researchers and clinicians can use our results to determine outcomes, such as the total number of positive screens and false-positive screens, at different PHQ-9 cut-offs for different clinical settings as described in our knowledge translation tool here.

2021/08/31

See Q & A with Dr. Brett Thombs and COVID-MINDS on mental health research in the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Thombs discusses our living systematic review and what we have learned conducting this work: [LINK]

2021/08/19

We are excited to share that our LSR team was awarded a one-year grant ($220,052) by CIHR’s Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Funding Opportunity for conducting our project “Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Ongoing Living Systematic Review of Mental Health Burden and Intervention Effectiveness to Inform Management Strategies During and Post-COVID-19.” This will allow the team to continue to update its synthesis of evidence on mental health in COVID-19.

2021/07/23

We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD team was awarded a 3-year grant ($279,224) by CIHR to develop and test statistical methods for individual participant data meta-analysis in diagnostic test accuracy. A special thank you to Dr. Yin Wu, Dr. Zelalem Negeri, Sheryl Sun and Dr. Brooke Levis, who worked closely with Dr. Andrea Benedetti on the CIHR funding competition!

2021/07/21

We are excited to share that Dr. Brett Thombs has just been awarded the Scleroderma Foundation’s 2021 “Messenger of Hope” award. This award was presented to Brett in recognition of his tremendous work with the scleroderma community through the SPIN programs that have elevated disease awareness, strengthened self-care among individuals living with the disease. Brett received this award on Saturday evening, July 17 in a virtual awards ceremony as part of the 2021 National Scleroderma Conference. Click HERE to watch the ceremony. 

2021/07/19

We are excited to share that “Uncertainties Page” article by Danielle Rice and Dr. Thombs on depression screening evidence and what clinicians should do given there is not trial evidence to support screening was published today in BMJ. See the article here.

2021/07/05

We are happy to share that the LSR COVID-19 project has 3 preprints published on MedRxiv:

1. Effects of COVID-19 Mental Health Interventions among Community-based Children, Adolescents, and Adults: A Living Systematic Review of Randomised Controlled Trials [LINK]

2. Comparison of Mental Health Symptoms prior to and during COVID-19: Evidence from a Living Systematic Review and Meta-analysis [LINK]

3. Comparison of Mental Health Symptom Changes from pre-COVID-19 to COVID-19 by Sex or Gender: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis [LINK]

2021/06/17

Yesterday, 35 collaborators attended the first DEPRESSD webinar - Addressing overestimation of prevalence based on self-report questionnaires: Are there cost-effective alternatives. For those of you who couldn’t make it to the meeting, you can watch the recording here [LINK]. The DEPREESSD team is planning to have more webinars later in the fall. We will keep you all posted. Thanks to all of you for your collaboration!

2021/06/16

Dr. Xia Qiu, a visiting PhD Student, and the DEPRESSD team published their protocol on OSF. The objectives of the study are (1) to evaluate the equivalence of continuous EPDS-9 and full EPDS scores for assessing depressive symptom severity; and (2) to assess the equivalence of the accuracy of the EPDS-9 and full EPDS across relevant cut-offs for screening to detect major depression. Read more here.

2021/06/09

Suiqiong Fan, as a Research and Synthesis Analytical Coordinator, will be joining the DEPRESSD and COVID-19 Living Systematic Review projects on June 21. Suiqiong completed her BSc in Global Health at Wuhan University in 2019 and recently completed her MSc in Public Health from McGill. At McGill, Suiqiong worked on two projects related to child marriage. We’re fortunate to have her join the team! Click here to know more about her.

2021/05/25

We are planning to host a series of webinars for project collaborators and other interested researchers and clinicians. Please see below for information regarding our FIRST WEBINAR [see our flyer]:

PRESENTERS:

Dipika Neupane, Analytical Coordinator at the Lady Davis Institute of Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 

Brooke Levis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Prognosis Research, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK 

WHEN:

16 June 2021   12:00-1:00 pm EST

HOW TO JOIN:

No need to register; simply click on the following link and enter the passcode:

Join Zoom Meeting

https://mcgill.zoom.us/j/84496607495pwd=STN5Q21zSW1KQ3dvNjhEcmp3WUJrZz09

2021/05/24

On May 22nd, Dr. Thombs was interview on Montreal CTV News, where he discussed changes in mental health from prior to COVID-19 to during the pandemic. Based on findings from the team's ongoing living systematic review of over 50,000 scientific articles, Dr. Thombs pointed out that across population groups, results suggest that, rather than a mental health crisis, at a population level, there has been a high level of resilience during COVID-19. Click here to watch the full interview. 

2021/05/12

We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD Team's paper- Selective cutoff reporting in studies of the accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire‐9 and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: Comparison of results based on published cutoffs versus all cutoffs using individual participant data meta‐analysis has been published in the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. The project, led by Dipika Neupane, used IPDMA with the PHQ‐9 and EPDS, separately, to (1) compare sensitivity and specificity based on all cutoffs from all primary studies versus data from only cutoffs for which accuracy estimates were published in the primary studies; and (2) explore cutoff reporting patterns with reference to the identified optimal cutoff in each primary study. Access the full article [HERE]

2021/05/10

Congratulations to Dr. Yin Wu and the DEPRESSD Team on their publication in BMJ!

We are excited to share that the DEPRESSD Team's IPDMA on the accuracy of the HADS-D screening tool has been published in the BMJ. The project, led by Dr. Yin Wu, combined individual participant data from 101 studies (>22,000 participants) to evaluate the screening accuracy of the HADS-D. Combined sensitivity and specificity of the HADS-D was maximized at a cut-off of >=7. Accuracy was similar across reference standards and subgroups, and when published results from studies that did not contribute data were included. Read the full article here.  Clinicians and researchers who consider screening for depression with the HADS-D can refer to our associated knowledge translation tool which estimates the expected number of positive screens as well as true and false screening outcomes for different screening thresholds. Access the full article [HERE]

2021/02/03

Congratulations to the DEPRESSD team, which was successful in obtaining two $100,000 Project Grants from CIHR, through the Personalized Health priority announcement! One proposal was for updating our databases on the PHQ-9, EPDS, HADS, and GDS depression screening tools. The other was for advancing statistical methods to use for developing personalized depression screening models.

2021/01/22

A new study, led by Dr. Felix Fischer (Psychometrics and Health Outcomes Research, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine of The Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin), Dr. Brooke Levis and the rest of the DEPRESSD Team, has been published in Psychological Medicine. The study used an individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) database to compare different scoring methods based on latent variable models of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Read more about the study: 

https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721000131

2020/11/11

We are thrilled to share that the DEPRESSD Team's IPD meta-analysis on the accuracy of the EPDS screening tool has been published in the BMJ. The study, led by Dr. Brooke Levis, synthesized data from 58 studies (>15,000 participants), and found that the combination of sensitivity and specificity was maximized at a cutoff value of ≥ 11. Accuracy was similar across reference standards and subgroups, including for pregnant and postpartum women. Read the full article here. Clinicians considering screening for depression with the EPDS can refer to our associated knowledge translation tool (depressionscreening100.com/epds), which estimates expected numbers of positive screens and true and false screening outcomes for different screening thresholds.

2020/09/29

We are excited to share that the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research has selected the DEPRESSD Team's recent JAMA publication as the September 2020 Paper of the Month. The project, led by Dr. Brooke Levis, combined individual participant data from 100 studies (>44,000 participants) to evaluate the screening accuracy of the PHQ-2 alone and in combination with the PHQ-9. The combination of PHQ-2 (with a cutoff of >=2) followed by the PHQ-9 (with a cutoff of >=10) was found to have similar accuracy to PHQ-9 alone, but reduced the number of participants needing to complete the full PHQ-9 by 57%. Access the full article here

2020/09/14

We are currently seeking a full-time or part-time Research Assistant to join the COVID-19 Living Systematic Review Project [PDF for more details].

• Start Date: October 2020 (flexible); Remote working is possible

• To apply: Interested candidates should submit (1) a cover letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) an unofficial transcript, (4) a writing sample, and (5) contact information for up to three references to Sheryl Sun (ying.sun2@mail.mcgill.ca).

The position will remain open until filled. 

2020/08/26

This week, members of the team received an additional $199,836 from the CIHR to supplement previous CIHR and MI4 funding for a living systematic review on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This grant supports continued work in dissemination and processing a high volume of evidence. Thank you to the CIHR! Congratulations to team members Yutong Wang, Ankur Krishnan, Kevin Jutras, Olivia Bonardi, Danielle Rice, Jill Boruff, Marleine Azar, Chen He, Dr. Sarah Markham, Sheryl Sun, Dr. Yin Wu, Ian Thombs-Vite, and Drs. Benedetti and Thombs.

2020/08/21

We are happy to announce that the DEPRESSD Team published a paper entitled “Probability of Major Depression Classification Based on the SCID, CIDI, and MINI Diagnostic Interviews: A Synthesis of Three Individual Participant Data Meta-Analyses” in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. This study, led by Dr. Yin Wu (DEPRESSD’s postdoctoral research fellow), combined datasets from over 200 studies (around 70,000 participants, ) and showed how different diagnostic interviews perform differently, was really important and the first meta-research synthesized IPD meta-analyses. The results suggested that, adjusting for depressive symptom levels and participant characteristics, compared to the SCID, the MINI classified major depression more often. Odds of depression classification with the CIDI increased less as symptom levels increased. Based on the findings, mental health researchers should carefully consider the interview characteristics when interpreting research that used diagnostic interviews to classify depression. Read more about the study 

2020/06/10

We are happy to share that we have created a DEPRESSD Project twitter account: @DepressdP. Going forward, we will be using the platform to share updates and news about the DEPRESSD Project. Please follow us here.

2020/06/09

We are thrilled to announce that a DEPRESSD project evaluating the screening accuracy of the PHQ-2 alone and in combination with the PHQ-9 has been published in JAMA. The study, led by Brooke Levis, synthesized data from 100 studies (>44,000 participants), and found that the combination of PHQ-2 (with a cutoff of >=2) followed by the PHQ-9 (with a cutoff of >=10) had similar accuracy to PHQ-9 alone, but reduced the number of participants needing to complete the full PHQ-9 by 57%. Access the full article here

2020/05/26

Congratulations to current and former team members Zelalem, Dipika, Brooke, Marleine, Yin, and Kim, who had 5 oral presentations and 6 poster presentations accepted for the 27th Cochrane Colloquium! Presentations related to the DEPRESSD Project include: individual participant data meta-analyses of PHQ-2, PHQ-9, EPDS, and HADS accuracy; selective cutoff reporting in depression screening accuracy studies; imperfect reference standards for major depression classification; and a knowledge translation tool for clinician understanding of diagnostic accuracy estimates. Presentations related to meta-research and policy include: reporting of conflicts of interest in Cochrane and non-Cochrane meta-analyses of drug trials, and factors associated with contribution of data to individual participant data meta-analyses of intervention effectiveness.

2020/05/25

This week, members of the team received $50,000 from the CIHR to supplement MI4 funding for a living systematic review on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This grant supports more effective dissemination and work in processing a high volume of Chinese-language evidence. Thank you to the CIHR! Congratulations to team members Olivia Bonardi, Danielle Rice, Jill Boruff, Marleine Azar, Chen He, Dr. Sarah Markham, Sheryl Sun, Dr. Yin Wu, Ankur Krishnan, Ian Thombs-Vite, and Drs. Benedetti and Thombs.

2020/05/05

Dr. Zelalem Negeri’s latent class modelling for individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) titled Latent class models for individual participant data meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy studies with imperfect reference standards” was accepted for an oral presentation at the 2020 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) to be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from August 1-6, 2020. Dr. Negeri’s work aimed to propose and evaluate both Frequentist and Bayesian latent class models for IPDMA in the presence of imperfect reference standards. The proposed statistical methods will be illustrated using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) database, which constitutes 100 studies, more than 44,000 participants and over 4,500 major depression cases. The JSM is the largest gatherings of statisticians in North America, and it attracts more than 1000 participants each year.

2020/05/05

Dr. Zelalem Negeri’s poster presentation entitled won the 2nd best poster presentation award worth $50.00 at the 2020 McGill University’s EBOSS Research Day. Dr. Negeri’s work showed that, among other things, the diagnostic test accuracy of the PHQ-9 was better when compared with semi-structured reference standards than with fully structured or the MINI reference standards and that sex and age of participants were significantly associated with the specificities of the PHQ-9.

2020/04/30

We are excited to share that our research "Comparison of major depression diagnostic classification probability using the SCID, CIDI, and MINI diagnostic interviews among women in pregnancy or postpartum: An individual participant data meta‐analysis" is among the top 10% most downloaded papers!​Among work published between January 2018 and December 2019, our research received some of the most downloads in the 12 months following online publication and generated immediate impact and helped to raise the visibility of the International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. Read more about the study

2020/04/23

This week, members of the team received $65,000 from the McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity (MI4)'s Emergency COVID-19 Research Funding Program to conduct a living systematic review on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objectives of this living systematic review are to evaluate (1) changes in mental health symptoms; (2) factors associated with levels or changes in symptoms during COVID-19; and (3) the effect of interventions on mental health symptoms during COVID-19. A huge thank-you to the MI4 initiative who generously supports this important research project during these trying times. Congratulations for team members Olivia Bonardi, Danielle Rice, Jill Boruff, Marleine Azar, Chen He, Dr. Sarah Markham, Sheryl Sun, Dr. Yin Wu, Ankur Krishnan, Ian Thombs-Vite, and Drs. Benedetti and Thombs. 

2020/04/01

The DEPRESsion Screening Data (DEPRESSD) Project is a collaborative endeavor that was set up by Drs. Brett Thombs and Andrea Benedetti, who partnered with local and international experts to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of depression screening tools by conducting individual participant data meta-analyses (IPDMAs).

We are currently seeking a full-time Analytical Research Coordinator and full-time Postdoctoral Fellows to join the team. 

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- Analytical Research Coordinator Application

- Postdoctoral Fellows Application

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The positions will remain open until filled.

2020/03/23

Congratulations to the DEPRESSD team, whose Journal of Clinical Epidemiology article was featured in Mad in America. The study, led by Brooke Levis, found that prevalence based on the PHQ-9 screening tool (at the standard cutoff of ≥ 10) was double (12% greater) prevalence based on a validated diagnostic interview for major depression, the SCID. No alternative PHQ-9 cutoff matched SCID prevalence consistently. Read more here

2020/03/16

We are excited to announce that Drs. Yin Wu and Brooke Levis had oral presentations accepted and Dipika Neupane had a poster presentation accepted for the MEMTAB2020 (Methods for Evaluation of medical prediction Models, Tests And Biomarker 2020) symposium in Leuven, Belgium. Every year, MEMTAB attracts researchers, healthcare workers, policymakers, and manufacturers actively involved in the development, evaluation or regulation of tests, (bio)markers, models, tools, apps, devices or any other modality used for the purpose of diagnosis, prognosis, risk stratification or (disease or therapy) monitoring. Read more.

2020/03/12

Researchers commonly report the percentage of participants scoring above screening tool thresholds as the prevalence of depression, even though screening tools are designed to identify individuals who may have depression and further assessment is required to confirm whether individuals meet diagnostic criteria. In this study, led by Brooke Levis, the team combined data from 44 primary studies (9242 participants) and compared prevalence based on the PHQ-9 screening tool to prevalence based on a validated diagnostic interview for major depression, the SCID. Using the standard PHQ-9 cutoff score of ≥ 10, the prevalence was 12% greater than SCID-based prevalence. No alternative PHQ-9 cutoff matched SCID prevalence consistently. Read more about the study here.

2020/02/26

We are excited to announce that the DEPRESSD Team’s research proposal “Depression Trajectories in Pregnant and Postpartum Women: An Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis” was awarded an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and we ranked 1st place in a committee of 60 applications! In this project, we will use the existing DEPRESSD-EPDS database to try to describe the trajectory of major depression and identify risk factors throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period.

 

We would like to thank our DEPRESSD Team members for their great work on the project.

2020/02/01

Recently, the DEPRESSD Team published their first IPD meta-analysis using the DEPRESSD-HADS database. The study, led by Yin Wu (DEPRESSD’s postdoctoral research fellow), included 15,856 participants from 73 studies (15,335 non-psychiatric medical patients, 164 partners of medical patients, and 357 healthy adults) and compared odds of major depression classification for different diagnostic interviews. It was found that controlling for HADS-D depressive symptom scores and other study and participant characteristics, there were important differences in classification probability across interviews. Among fully structured interviews designed for lay administration, the MINI classifies significantly more participants as having major depression than the CIDI. Compared with the semi-structured SCID designed for administration by a trained evaluator, CIDI is less sensitive to increases in symptom levels, and the odds of diagnosis do not increase as much as symptoms increase. Read more about the study here.

2020/01/27

Dr. Benedetti and Dr. Thombs introduced the DEPRESSD Project: Using Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis to Overcome Barriers to Evaluating Diagnostic Test in the department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health (EBOH) seminar at McGill. The objectives of the speech are: to describe IPDMA approaches and advantages compared to conventional aggregate-data meta-analysis; to discuss how an IPDMA approach has been used in DEPRESSD to address shortcomings in conventional meta-analyses on the accuracy of depression screening tools; and to provide examples of how an IPDMA approach has facilitated studies that illustrate and provide possible solutions to methodological challenges. More information: https://www.mcgill.ca/epi-biostat-occh/seminars-events/seminars/epidemiology

2019/11/01

Congratulations to Dr. Brooke Levis! Dr. Levis successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis entitled "Using individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)" on Wednesday, October 30, 2019, at McGill University. Her thesis focused on comparing diagnostic interviews for major depression classification, evaluating the accuracy of the PHQ-9 depression screening tool, and examining bias in accuracy estimates due to using data-driven procedures in small samples. Dr. Levis is currently conducting a postdoctoral fellowship in IPDMA and prediction modelling at Keele University and continues to collaborate with the DEPRESSD Project team.

2019/07/19

A study authored by Chen He (DEPRESSD’s research assistant) on the accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 algorithm was just published online in the Journal of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. The aim of the study was to use IPDMA to evaluate the accuracy of two PHQ-9 diagnostic algorithms for detecting major depression and compare accuracy between the algorithms and the standard PHQ-9 cutoff score of ≥10. Results show that the PHQ-9 score threshold approach provides more desirable combinations of sensitivity and specificity across different cutoffs than the algorithm approach for screening and provides the flexibility to select a cutoff that would provide the preferred combination of sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, The cutoff score approach appears to be a better option than a PHQ-9 algorithm for detecting major depression. To view the full-text article, please click 

https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/502294

2019/05/27

Brooke Levis, a doctoral trainee with the DEPRESSD team, received the LDI's 2019 Trainee Paper of the Year Award for her IPD meta-analysis on the diagnostic accuracy of the PHQ-9 for screening to detect major depression, which was recently published in the BMJ (https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1476).

Congratulations, Brooke!

2019/05/01

Yin and Brooke were awarded two-year postdoctoral fellowships from the Fonds de Recherche Québec – Santé (FRQS). They both were ranked 1st on their respective panels of about 20 applicants. Yin will use hers with the DEPRESSD team, working on the project, “Improving Depression Screening in Geriatric Patients by Reducing Bias and Generating Individualized Accuracy Estimates: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS)”. Brooke will take hers to the UK, to the Centre for Prognosis Research at Keele University, where she will work with Prof. Richard Riley, who is the world’s foremost expert in IPD meta-analysis. Brooke will work on a project developing and applying statistical methods to overcome missing data in IPD meta-analysis and will also be involved in other projects related to IPD meta-analysis, prediction, and prognosis. 

2019/04/10

Yesterday, the DEPRESSD team's IPD meta-analysis on the diagnostic accuracy of the PHQ-9 for screening to detect major depression, led by Brooke Levis, was published online in The BMJ. The team synthesized original patient data from 58 studies (17,357 participants; 2,312 major depression cases) and analyzed PHQ-9 accuracy across reference standards and across patient subgroups. PHQ-9 accuracy was higher when compared to diagnoses from semi-structured diagnostic interviews, which are designed for administration by clinicians, than when compared to diagnoses from fully structured diagnostic interviews, which are designed for lay administration. The standard cutoff score of 10 or greater maximized combined sensitivity and specificity overall and for subgroups. Please click here (https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1476.full) to read more about this study.