Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9)

Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

  • The Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) is one of the tools used to screen for the presence and severity of depression and to monitor response to treatment.
  • This is not intended to provide a diagnosis – only trained health professionals should do this.
Healthify Website tiles Generic 11 yellow
Print this page

Note: your responses to this questionnaire are anonymous. Your scores are not recorded by Healthify He Puna Waiora and we don't capture any information that can identify you.

The copyright for the PHQ-9 was formerly held with Pfizer, who provided the educational grant for Drs Spitzer, Williams and Kroenke, who originally designed it. This is no longer the case and no permission is required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute the PHQ-9.

  • Each response category of 'not at all', 'several days', 'more than half the days' and 'nearly every day' is assigned a score of 0, 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
  • The total score is calculated by adding together the scores for the 9 questions.
  • The final scores of 0–4, 5–9, 10–14, 15–19, 20–27 are the ranges for none, mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe, respectively.
  • Please note that while great care has been taken with the development of this self-test, it is not intended to be a substitute for professional clinical advice. The result is indicative only. If you have scored above the threshold on this scale, see your doctor or a mental health practitioner, such as a counsellor, psychotherapist or psychologist(external link).

The PHQ-9 has been translated into the following languages and is available on the Pfizer website. It is strongly recommended that these questions are completed with a health professional.

For other languages, visit Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Screeners(external link).

Resources

Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9)(external link) Pfizer, US

Related topics

Depression topics | Mate pāpouri
Kessler-10 (K10) distress scale

Credits: Healthify editorial team. Healthify is brought to you by Health Navigator Charitable Trust.

Read more at: https://healthify.nz/tools/p/patient-health-questionnaire-9-phq-9/
Healthify is brought to you by Health Navigator Charitable Trust