Description
For persons eligible for the Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQELIG), PHQ2 reports the person's summary score on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2), a screening measure for depression. The score reported in PHQ2, ranging from 0 through 6, summarizes responses to two component variables:
- PHQINTR: during the past two weeks, bothered by having little interest or pleasure in doing things, and
- PHQDEP: during the past two weeks, bothered by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.
The higher the value on PHQ2, the greater the person's tendency towards depression is. Kroenke et al. (2003) suggest a score of 3 as the optimal cut point for depression screening purposes. For more information, refer to
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R.L., and Williams, J.B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: Validity of a two-item depressive screener. Medical Care 41: 1284-1292.
