Screening, diagnosis, and clinical care for depression.

Depression is an extremely common condition, which usually responds well to prescribed treatment. Many patients have undiagnosed depression or related illnesses. There are a variety of screening tools that can be applied in practice settings. It is recommended that adult patients be screened for depression in practice sites able to coordinate the actual diagnosis and treatment of depression. This column reviews two sets of recommendations specific to the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of depression.