Use of Single Screening Question From NARCOMS to Detect Severe Depression in Multiple Sclerosis

The current study evaluated a single self-report depression screening question used by the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS) in terms of its ability to detect treatable (severe) clinical depression, as measured by a cutoff score on the Beck Depression Inventory II. Receiver-operating-characteristic curve analysis was used. The study found that the NARCOMS question demonstrated 70% sensitivity and 90% specificity in detecting severe depression.