• Timothy Skinner, Alex Brown, Armando Teixeira-Pinto, Sara Farnbach, Nicholas Glozier, Deborah A Askew, Graham Gee, Alan Cass, and Maree L Hackett.
• Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC.
• Med. J. Aust. 2024 Sep 2; 221 (5): 258263258-263.

ObjectiveTo determine the psychometric properties of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-developed depressive symptom screening scale.DesignProspective diagnostic accuracy study.SettingTen primary health care services or residential alcohol and other drug rehabilitation services in Australia that predominantly serve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.Participants500 adults (18 years or older) who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and were able to communicate sufficiently to respond to questionnaire and interview questions. Recruitment occurred between 25 March 2015 and 2 November 2016.Main Outcome MeasureCriterion validity of seven Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-developed items, using the adapted Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (aPHQ-9) and depression module of the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) 6.0.0 as the criterion standards.ResultsThe seven-item scale had good internal consistency (α = 0.83) and correlated highly with the aPHQ-9 (ρ = 0.76). All items were significantly associated with diagnosis of a current major depressive episode. Discriminant function and decision tree analysis identified three items forming a summed scale that classified 85% of participants correctly. These three items showed equivalent sensitivity and specificity to the aPHQ-9 when compared with the MINI-identified diagnosis of a current major depressive episode.ConclusionThree items developed by and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may provide effective, efficient and culturally appropriate screening for depression in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care contexts.© 2024 The Author(s). Medical Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of AMPCo Pty Ltd.

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