Usefulness of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 in Screening for Depression
10.21215/kjfp.2019.9.4.336
- Author:
Minkyeung JO
1
;
Hye Yeon KOO
;
In Young CHO
;
Yoojin LEE
;
Sojung YOON
;
Yeseul YANG
;
Ju Young KIM
;
Kiheon LEE
;
Kee Hyuck LEE
;
Se Young JUNG
;
Hyejin LEE
;
Jong Soo HAN
;
Sarah KIM
;
Woo Kyung BAE
Author Information
1. Department of Family Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Depression;
Mass Screening;
Patient Health Questionnaire;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- MeSH:
Anhedonia;
Depression;
Humans;
Mass Screening;
Nutrition Surveys;
ROC Curve;
Sensitivity and Specificity;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:
Korean Journal of Family Practice
2019;9(4):336-340
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: While various screening tools are available for depression, they are not feasible in clinical practice because of their excessive number of questions. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) consists of two questions gauging the frequency of depressed mood and anhedonia over the past two weeks. This study aimed to assess the usefulness of the PHQ-2 as a brief screening tool for depression.METHODS: This study used Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2014, and the study population consisted of 4,946 individuals. We analyzed the validity of the PHQ-2 compared with ‘depression by PHQ-9,’ and obtained the optimal cut point for screening depression. The agreement between PHQ-2 and depression by PHQ-9 and the agreement between PHQ-2 and ‘currently diagnosed as depression’ were analyzed using Cohen's kappa. The correlation between EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) index scores and PHQ-2 scores was analyzed using Student's t-test.RESULTS: Using ‘depression by PHQ-9’ as the criterion standard, PHQ-2 scores ≥2 had a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 87%, and a receiver operating characteristic analysis identified PHQ-2≥2 as the optimal cut point for screening. The agreement between PHQ-2 and depression by PHQ-9 was 0.430 when PHQ-2 ≥2 was used as a cut point. The agreement between PHQ-2 and ‘depression by questionnaire’ was poor. The EQ-5D index score of the depressive group was significantly lower than that of the normal group.CONCLUSION: The PHQ-2 is an effective measure for screening depression and is expected to be useful in busy clinical settings.
