The PHQ - 9 is intended to help clinicians identify and screen for the presence and severity of depression. The measure may be used to track changes in the individual’s symptom presentation over time.
The results of the PHQ-9 may be used to make a depression diagnosis according to DSM-IV criteria and takes less than 3 minutes to complete. The total of all 9 responses from the PHQ-9 aims to predict the presence and severity of depression
Each item inquires about how much (or how often) the individual has been bothered by the specific symptom during the past 2 weeks.