During PHQ screening, when is PHQ-9 administered?

During PHQ screening, when is PHQ-9 administered?

• A. If patient says yes to both depressed mood and anhedonia
• B. If patient reports no depressed mood
• C. If patient has prior depression
• D. If patient requests it

Answer: (A)

The essential idea is that the PHQ-9 is used after a brief positive screen to measure how severe the depression is. In the PHQ-2, two core symptoms are asked: depressed mood and anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure). If a patient endorses both of these symptoms, it signals enough concern to justify a fuller assessment with the PHQ-9, which asks nine more questions about the range and severity of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks. This helps determine how severe the depression is and guides treatment decisions. If there is no depressed mood, the standard screening would not move to the PHQ-9 in most workflows, since one of the core criteria isn’t met. Prior depression or a patient requesting it can influence care, but they don’t define the automatic trigger for administering the nine-item questionnaire in the typical screening sequence.

The essential idea is that the PHQ-9 is used after a brief positive screen to measure how severe the depression is. In the PHQ-2, two core symptoms are asked: depressed mood and anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure). If a patient endorses both of these symptoms, it signals enough concern to justify a fuller assessment with the PHQ-9, which asks nine more questions about the range and severity of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks. This helps determine how severe the depression is and guides treatment decisions.

If there is no depressed mood, the standard screening would not move to the PHQ-9 in most workflows, since one of the core criteria isn’t met. Prior depression or a patient requesting it can influence care, but they don’t define the automatic trigger for administering the nine-item questionnaire in the typical screening sequence.