Patient Health Questionnaire - 2 (PHQ2)
What It Measures
The PHQ-2 is a two-question screen for depression, made up of the first two questions of the PHQ-9. It asks how often, over the past two weeks, a person has been bothered by little interest or pleasure in doing things, and by feeling down, depressed, or hopeless. Each is answered on a four-point scale from not at all to nearly every day.
Those answers score 0 to 3, giving a total from 0 to 6. A score of 3 or higher is a positive screen and should prompt the full PHQ-9 or a clinical interview. At that cutoff, the PHQ-2 identified 83 percent of people with major depression and correctly cleared 92 percent of those without it. The two questions cover the core symptoms of major depression, which is why so short a screen works. It flags who needs a closer look rather than diagnosing.
Further Reading
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: The official forms carry the notice that no permission is required to reproduce, translate, display, or distribute them. Cite the authors when reproducing.