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Allteensshouldbescreenedfordepression,taskforcerecommendsCNN.com
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All primary care doctors should screen adolescents routinely for depression, new recommendations said.
Story highlights
Primary care doctors should screen young
people ages 12 to 18 for depression
Doctors should have a system in place for
connecting adolescents to care for depression
There is not evidence to recommend routine
depression screening of children younger than
12
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adolescents, he said.
Screening adolescents is not difficult, Maslow said. "I don't think it's that much more complex than the
things [doctors] are already doing."
But the payoff is big. "The biggest challenge is identifying adolescents." They might look fine but "without
screening they fall thru the cracks and don't come to attention until the symptoms get worse," Maslow said.
"I think we have medications and therapies that are effective."
Recent research has found that escitalopram, known as Lexapro, was associated with better recovery from
depressive symptoms among adolescents 12 to 17 years of age than a placebo control, and was not
associated with greater adverse effects. The two antidepressants approved for use in adolescents are
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/08/health/teendepressionscreening/index.html
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fluoxetine, known as Prozac, and Lexapro, for individuals starting at age 8 and 12, respectively.
In recommending certain medications and therapies, the Task Force considered studies that held these
treatments up to a number of different standards, such as whether they improved adolescents' quality of life,
physical and social health and also whether they reduced the rates of young people taking their own lives.
"Suicide attempts and completed suicides are a concern with depression in adolescents and they were
considered in the recommendations," Krist said. According to recent data, 17% of high school students in
the United States have seriously considered taking their own life in the last year and 8% have attempted
suicide.
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/08/health/teendepressionscreening/index.html
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Allteensshouldbescreenedfordepression,taskforcerecommendsCNN.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/08/health/teendepressionscreening/index.html
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