Depression is a serious problem in the United States with suicide the potential catastrophic result of this disease. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 10 and 24. At any one time, 5% to 6% of adolescents experience major depressive symptoms, with lifetime rates of major depression among adolescents reaching up to 20%. Adolescents see their primary care providers on average once or twice a year making this the ideal setting for identification of adolescent depression. A review of the literature supports the use of instruments to identify depression that can be incorporated during routine health exams and the need for depression screening in primary care. The goal of this quality improvement project was to implement depression screening into a pediatric primary care setting. This was accomplished through the development of a process to disseminate and score PHQ-9 questionnaires at all health maintenance visits
