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Published on: February 22, 2018
[Identifying depression in the general population - a comparison of PHQ-9, PHQ-8 and PHQ-2]
Lena Spangenberg1, Elmar Brähler, Heide Glaesmer
1Universitätsklinikum Leipzig AöR, Abteilung für Medizinische Psychologie und Medizinische Soziologie, Leipzig. Lena.Spangenberg@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
Objective:
To examine the comparability of depression as defined by PHQ-9, PHQ-8 and PHQ-2 in the German general population.
Methods:
The PHQ-9 was assessed in a representative sample (N = 2524). Depression diagnosis and depression severity as measured either by PHQ-9, PHQ-8 or PHQ-2 were compared.
Results:
PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 performed comparably in identifying depressive persons, though there are slight differences in rating depression severity. In comparison, the PHQ-2 showed the best performance in the detection of any depressive disorder.
Conclusions:
The PHQ-9 should be used in clinical settings, whereas in research and when persons are being approached via telephone/mail/internet the PHQ-8 is preferable. The PHQ-2 is recommended as a very economic and brief screener for depressive disorders.
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