Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders in the US. In 2021, there were an estimated 21 million adults experiencing at least one major depressive episode, accounting for 8.3% of all US adults. Moreover, when depression coexists with other medical conditions, depression can lead to worse health outcomes. As part of the "For Every Patient" initiative, Mass General Brigham (MGB) is interested in the use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to detect coexisting depression in patients undergoing specialty clinical care in an effort to mitigate the negative contribution of depression. The MGB PROMs Program, launched in 2014, is the largest in the world, collecting more than 5 million validated clinical questionnaires each year as part of a unified effort to measure patient outcomes using the same metrics across our system. To date, few studies have summarized the extent to which depression affects health conditions, nor the moderating effects of (i.e., the degree to which) comorbid depression affects clinical health outcomes across different conditions. Identifying which health conditions are most affected by comorbid depression could focus depression screening, diagnosis, and treatment efforts to those specific clinical specialties, thereby improving the quality of care for those needing it most. This opportunity involves conducting a scoping review to understand how depression affects health outcomes and can be mitigated in specialty clinical care (i.e., not Primary Care). The student will work with leadership at the Patient-Reported Outcomes, Value, and Experience (PROVE) Center and the MGB PROMs Program. The project can be conducted in-person, remotely, or hybrid.