The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) is a multiple-choiceself-report inventory that is used as a screening and diagnostic tool for mental health disorders of depression, anxiety, alcohol, eating, and somatoform disorders. It is the self-report version of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD), a diagnostic tool developed in the mid-1990s by Pfizer Inc.[1] The length of the original assessment limited its feasibility; consequently, a shorter version, consisting of 11 multi-part questions - the Patient Health Questionnaire was developed and validated.[2]
In addition to the PHQ, a nine-item version to assess symptoms of depression, a seven-item version to assess symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7),[3] and a 15-item version to detect somatic symptoms (PHQ-15)[4] have been developed and validated. The PHQ-9, GAD-7, and the PHQ-15 were combined to create the PHQ-somatic, anxiety, depressive symptoms (PHQ-SADS)[2] and includes questions regarding panic attacks (after the GAD-7 section). Though less commonly used, there are also brief versions of the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 that may be useful as screening tools in some settings. In recent years, the PHQ-9 has been validated for use in adolescents,[5] and a version for adolescents was also developed and validated (PHQ-A).[6] Although these tests were originally designed as self-report inventories they can also be administered by trained health care practitioners.[7]
The PHQ is available in over 20 languages, available on the PHQ website. Both the original Patient Health Questionnaire and later variants are public domain resources; no fees or permissions are required for using or copying the measures.[8]: 3, 7–8 Additionally, the measures have been validated in a number of different populations internationally.[9][10][11]
^Chen, Teddy M.; Huang, Frederick Y.; Chang, Christine; Chung, Henry (2006-07-01). "Using the PHQ-9 for Depression Screening and Treatment Monitoring for Chinese Americans in Primary Care". Psychiatric Services. 57 (7): 976–981. doi:10.1176/ps.2006.57.7.976. ISSN1075-2730. PMID16816282.
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