30-07-2025
PHQ-3: A Quick, Yet Still Effective Depression Screen
A shortened version of the commonly used nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) may offer clinicians a quicker yet still effective way to screen for depressive symptoms, new research suggested. The PHQ-3 only includes items 1 (about interest), 2 (about depressed mood), and 6 (about self-esteem or failure) from the PHQ-9.
In a survey study of more than 96,000 US adult participants, the PHQ-3 had 98% sensitivity and 76% specificity for predicting at least moderate or greater depressive symptoms.
Additionally, it was 'highly correlated' with the full PHQ-9 and noninferior to a recently validated four-item version for effectiveness — and it yielded a sensitivity of more than 90% across all ages, races, and ethnicities.
Lead study author Roy H. Perlis, MD, vice chair of research in the Department of Psychiatry at Mass General Brigham, Boston, said the investigators wanted to determine the shortest version of the PHQ-9 that could still be effective — and found that the PHQ-3 hit the 'sweet spot' they were looking for.
'We let the data tell us what the constellation of symptoms are that best predict overall severity and how well they do at identifying depression. It's a way we might be able to get the maximum amount of information in the shortest amount of time,' Perlis told Medscape Medical News.
However, he noted that he's not yet ready to recommend the PHQ-3 for widespread use in clinical practice.
'I want to see further studies in clinical settings. But I think we made a good start towards showing it did well in a big, general sample of US adults,' Perlis said.
The findings were published online on July 21 in JAMA Network Open .
Shorter Attention Spans
'The PHQ-9 was not intended as a tool to diagnose depression. It's just a way to start the conversation; and although it's not perfect, it is useful,' Perlis noted.
The original patient-reported PHQ was a screen for depression as well as for anxiety, eating disorders, alcohol misuse, and somatization. The version with a nine-item depression scale (PHQ-9) became widely used to screen for depression plus related symptoms, such as fatigue and troubled sleep.
However, the length has become burdensome to some patients, especially those who prefer to use phone apps rather than printed out forms. 'Faced with a long list of survey questions, some individuals may be tempted to speed through or to not respond at all,' the investigators wrote.
At the recent American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, clinicians in the audience at several sessions mentioned their patients have been complaining that the PHQ-9 is too long and that they prefer data to be delivered in smaller 'chunks.'
Perlis said that attitude was a big motivator for their study. 'We're in an era where we have shorter attention spans and people want things very quickly,' he said.
'Personally, I would always rather have the PHQ-9. The question we were trying to answer was: Can we ask fewer questions if we don't have the time or the space to ask about nine [items] and do almost as well?' Perlis reported.
The research assessed data from four waves of an online survey conducted from November 2023 to July 2024. In the first wave, they identified the optimal questionnaire items to be included.
The four waves had a total of 96,234 participants (57% women; mean age, 47.3 years). Of these, 68% were White individuals, 13% were Black individuals, 10% were Hispanic or Latino individuals, 5% were Asian, and 4% were classified as 'other.'
In the full patient population, 26% had moderate or greater depressive symptoms, as measured by a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10.
Follow-Up Is Key
After examining shortened versions of the PHQ-9 that ranged from including just one item up to eight items, the PHQ-3 with items 1 (interest), 2 (depressed mood), and 6 (self-esteem or failure) was deemed to be the 'optimal' version.
It had a sensitivity of 0.98 (95% CI, 0.97-0.98) and a specificity of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.75-0.76) for moderate or greater depressive symptoms.
Across all subgroups except participants aged 65 or older, the sensitivity for the PHQ-3 was > 0.94. For that subgroup, it was 0.93.
The PHQ-3 was also noninferior to previously reported sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-Depression-4 in the whole study group and in all subgroups.
The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for predicting moderate or greater depressive symptoms was 0.83 for the PHQ-3. The AUROC for the PHQ-9 was 0.84.
'While a shortened scale cannot capture the full range of the PHQ-9, it may facilitate more widespread and efficient investigation of psychiatric symptoms in general population samples when participant burden and/or data collection expense must be minimized,' the investigators wrote.
Overall, Perlis said the PHQ-3 could be a possible first-step screening tool, with more questions added as needed.
'What's most important is that people are screening for depression and, if someone screens positive, that they're following up with a more comprehensive evaluation and offering treatment if it's indicated,' he said. 'It's really about figuring out who needs follow-up.'
Menu of Options?
In an accompanying editorial, Kurt Kroenke, MD, Regenstrief Institute Indianapolis, noted that the study had 'numerous strengths,' including its large and diverse study population but also several limitations.
First, criteria for calculating sensitivity and specificity was not a structured psychiatric interview, which is what was used in the past to evaluate two- and nine-item PHQs. Also, because the researchers pulled from a general population sample, future studies should focus on actual patients from both primary care and psychiatric settings, Kroenke suggested.
He noted that in addition to the various shortened PHQs, the two-item and four-item versions of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System have shown benefit.
'Clinicians and researchers looking for ultrashort depression measures now have a menu from which to choose, which is good since one size may not fit all purposes,' Kroenke wrote.
'Expanded use of brief screeners to increase detection of depression has the potential to decrease the burden of the most prevalent mental disorder worldwide,' he added.
