Depression Screening in Chronic Disease Management

This pilot project aimed to improve depression symptoms and quality-of-life measures for individuals in a worksite disease management program. Two hundred forty-three individuals were invited to participate, out of which 69 enrolled. The participants had a history of diabetes, hypertension, or hyperlipidemia, and demonstrated depression using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The project consisted of counseling sessions provided every 2 to 4 weeks by a family nurse practitioner. PHQ-9 scores and those of an instrument that measures quality of life, the Veteran's Rand-12 (VR-12), were compared pre-intervention and post-intervention to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. PHQ-9 and VR-12 Mental Health Component (MHC) scores improved significantly after 3 months of nurse practitioner-led individual counseling sessions. This project demonstrated that depression screening and therapeutic management, facilitated by a nurse practitioner, can improve depression and perceived quality of life in individuals with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or type 2 diabetes.