Patient Health Questionnaire - 9
The PHQ-9 is a nine-item self-report of depressive symptom frequency over the past two weeks. This page is for clinics evaluating the measure. It is not a public depression test.
Overview
What is the PHQ-9?
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was developed by Kroenke, Spitzer, Williams and colleagues as a brief depression measure aligned to DSM symptom criteria. Clinics use it for screening, monitoring, and measurement-based care. The functional-difficulty item is reviewed separately from the symptom total in many implementations.
Development and clinical use
PHQ-9 emerged from the broader Patient Health Questionnaire programme with a Pfizer educational grant. It is now a routine measure in primary care and specialist mental health services.
- Source instrument
- 9 symptom items
- Reference period
- Past 2 weeks
- Response format
- 4 frequency options
- Difficulty item
- Reviewed, often unscored
- Respondent
- Patient self-report
- Clinical role
- Screening support
Administration
A focused client experience
Respondents rate how often nine problems have bothered them over the past two weeks, then how difficult those problems have made daily life. Any self-harm-related response requires direct clinical interview. Software must not treat that item as an automated risk decision.
- One question at a time with visible progress
- Large keyboard-operable response choices
- Previous, next, and answer-review steps
- Clear confirmation that results go to the clinic
Nine symptom items use the published four-point frequency scale, followed by the difficulty item.
Report showcase
Designed to make evidence easy to review
The downloadable synthetic example illustrates report layout using invented response patterns, without patient data or instrument questions.
- Named instrument, version, and provenance
- Item-level response pattern without source wording
- Methodology, references, and clinical boundary
- Responsible clinician review rather than automated conclusions
Clinician review required
Methodology
Understand the measure and its scoring conventions
Lirena stores the published PHQ-9 form and scores the nine symptom items to a 0-27 total with the manual's cut points of 5, 10, 15 and 20. The difficulty item is kept for clinician review and not scored, and any item-9 response above Not at all is flagged for review.
References
- Original PHQ-9 validationKroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16(9):606-613.
- Official source formsPfizer Inc. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) screeners.
Questions
What clinics ask before they evaluate the PHQ-9
These answers stay inside educational catalogue scope. They do not replace official manuals or clinician judgement.
What is the PHQ-9 used for?
Clinics use it to structure depressive symptom frequency and to track change. The result is supporting evidence for a clinician, not a completed assessment.
Does PHQ-9 measure suicide risk automatically?
No. A self-harm-related response must be reviewed by a clinician. Lirena does not determine risk, provide crisis monitoring, or replace local safeguarding protocols.
Can I complete PHQ-9 on this page?
No. This landing is educational. It does not collect answers or return a personal score.
Which PHQ-9 form should a clinic use?
Confirm you are using the official form and that your review process covers item 9.