HTS: Mental Health Screener

Mental Health Screener® (MHS)

Description:

The Mental Health Screener (MHS) is a computer-administered telephone interview that screens for the most common mental disorders. The MHS provides a quick and accurate screening for mental disorders while saving clinicians time.

The MHS addresses mood, anxiety, eating and alcohol disorders. It screens for the following disorders: Major Depression, Major Depression in Partial Remission, Dysthymia, Rule-out for Bipolar Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Phobia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bulimia (Purging v. Non-Purging Type), Binge Eating Disorder, Alcohol Abuse and Dependence.

Use in the field:

The MHS has been used in at least nine studies.

Validation data:

The MHS has been extensively studied, and the results have been published in JAMA 278:905-910, 1997 and in Psychiatric Services 48:1048-1057, 1997. In a mixed sample of primary care patients, psychiatric patients and community controls, no significant differences were found in prevalence rates between the MHS and the "gold standard" clinician interview, the SCID.

When differences occurred, it was found patients reported higher rates of alcohol abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder and dysthymia to the MHS than to a clinician. This is consistent with other studies that have found patients tend to report higher rates of disorders of a sensitive nature in computer interviews.

Sample MHS report

Publications on the MHS