Remote Behavioral Health Screenings Can Surface Population Risk of Anxiety and Depression: A Retrospective Database Study

What is it about?

Anxiety and depression are common behavioral health (BH) issues, but they often go untreated, especially in areas with limited BH resources. Although healthcare providers often use clinical assessments to screen for these conditions during traditional office visits, this approach has limitations; for example, it can fail to detect changes between appointments, and some patients may not feel comfortable sharing their true feelings in person. Our study explored whether using a digital BH platform to remotely administer these questionnaires could help identify more cases of anxiety and depression, potentially allowing for earlier intervention, better patient care, and stronger population-health management. We found that digital assessments could indeed detect rising mental health risks earlier than traditional visits alone. In some cases, digital screenings uncovered issues that might have been completely missed by relying solely on in-clinic assessments. Collectively, our study underscores the strength of digital assessments as a promising complement to traditional approaches for anxiety and depression screenings.

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