A Comparison of the PRIME-MD PHQ-9 and PHQ-8 in a Large Military Prospective Study, the Millennium Cohort Study
Abstract
The 9-item scale of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a validated tool for depression screening. Increasingly, the abbreviated version (PHQ-8) is being used in survey research, which excludes the question on suicidal thoughts due to concerns about inability of researchers to monitor such responses in real time. The performance of the PHQ-8 compared with the PHQ-9 has not been assessed in a population-based sample of military or nonmilitary subjects. The Millennium Cohort comprises 143,705 current and former U.S. military personnel. We conducted a cross-sectional comparison of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-8 and prospective analyses to detect a 5-unit change in these measures. A self-administered questionnaire, conducted at 3-year intervals, included the PHQ-9. Greater than substantial agreement was found between the PHQ-8 and 9 instruments (kappas, 0.966 to 0.974 depending on survey cycle). There was similarly high agreement between the PHQ-8 and 9 in detecting a 5-point increase ( = 0.987) or decrease ( = 0.984) in score. As excellent agreement was detected between the PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 instruments. The PHQ-8 would capture nearly all the same cases of depression as the PHQ-9 in populations similar to the one in this study.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 14, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA620299
Entities
People
- Cynthia A LeardMann
- Edward J. Boyko
- Isabel Gomez Jacobson
- Jaime L. Horton
- Timothy Steven Wells
Organizations
- Naval Health Research Center