Process / pipelineMajor depressive disorder screening

Patient Health Questionnaire-2

The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) is an ultra-brief, validated two-item screening instrument developed by Kroenke and colleagues in 2003 to identify major depression in primary care and medical populations. The PHQ-2 assesses the two cardinal symptoms of depression (depressed mood and anhedonia) over the past two weeks using a 0-3 frequency scale. It is the shortest validated depression screening tool enabling routine use in time-constrained clinical settings.

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Sources

  1. Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2003). The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Medical Care, 41(11), 1284-1292. DOI: 10.1097/01.MLR.0000093487.78664.3C
  2. Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., & Williams, J. B. (1999). Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. JAMA, 282(18), 1737-1744. DOI: 10.1001/jama.282.18.1737
  3. Li, C., Friedman, B., Conwell, Y., & Fiscella, K. (2007). Validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2) in identifying major depression in older people. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55(4), 596-602. DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01103.x

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Referenced by

ScholarGatePatient Health Questionnaire-2 (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 - Depression Screening). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/health-services/patient-health-questionnaire-2