Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

This article was first published on September 20, 2022. It was last edited or updated on September 20, 2022.

Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

	Not at all	Several days	More than half the days	Nearly every day
1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things
2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
3. Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
4. Feeling tired or having little energy
5. Poor appetite or overeating
6. Feeling bad about yourself—or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down
7. Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television
8. Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed. Or the opposite—being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual
9. Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way

If you checked off any problems, how difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people?

Not difficult at all _______

Somewhat difficult _______

Very difficult _______

Extremely difficult _______

Interpretation of the score

Total Score: Depression severity

0 to 4: None

5 to 9: Mild depression

10 to 14: Moderate depression

15 to 19: Moderately severe depression

20 to 27: Severe depression

Rating scales—General Articles

Rating scales and questionnaires for mental health clinicians

Warnings and tips regarding patient-rated scales/questionnaires

Rating scales—Specific scales

Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR)

Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)

Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI)

References

Kroenke K. PHQ-9: global uptake of a depression scale. World Psychiatry. 2021 Feb;20(1):135-136. doi: 10.1002/wps.20821. PMID: 33432739; PMCID: PMC7801833.

Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606-13. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x. PMID: 11556941; PMCID: PMC1495268.

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Interpretation of the score

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