Depressive Disorders

Depression Screening Lacking for Perimenopausal Women

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Practicing gynecologists largely fail to screen women for symptoms of depression during perimenopause.

HealthDay News — Practicing gynecologists largely fail to screen women for symptoms of depression during perimenopause, according to a study published online Jan. 13 in Menopause.

Greta B. Raglan, Ph.D., from University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues surveyed 209 practicing fellows of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and members of the Collaborative Ambulatory Research Network to assess ob-gyns’ screening practices and management of depression in perimenopause.

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The researchers found that more than one-third of respondents (34.1 percent) reported that they did not regularly screen perimenopausal patients for depression. Higher rates of screening were associated with higher-quality education about depression, respondent sex, and personal experience with depression. While the vast majority of respondents (85.7 percent) believed that they could recognize depression in perimenopausal women, only about half (55.8 percent) were confident in their ability to treat these patients.

“Increased education of ob-gyn physicians related to depression during perimenopause may increase the screening and treatment of women during this phase of life,” the authors write.

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