Diagnosing depression Th ere is no blood test

OBJECTIVE To explore and describe primary care physicians ’ experiences in providing care to depressed patients and to increase understanding of the possibilities and constraints around diagnosing and treating depression in primary care. DESIGN Qualitative study using personal interviews. SETTING A hospital region in eastern Canada. PARTICIPANTS A purposely diverse sample of 20 physicians chosen from among all 100 practising family physicians in the region. METHOD Invitations were mailed to all physicians practising in the region. Twenty physicians were chosen from among the 39 physicians responding positively to the invitation. Location of practice, sex, and year of graduation from medical school were used as sampling criteria. The 20 physicians were then interviewed, and the interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative approach involving handwritten notes on transcripts and themes created using qualitative data analysis software. MAIN FINDINGS Three themes related to diagnosis emerged. The fi rst concerns use of checklists. Physicians said they needed an effi cient but eff ective means of diagnosing depression and often used diagnostic aids, such as checklists