Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Evaluation of the PHQ-2 as a Brief Screen for Detecting Major Depression Among Adolescents

2010; American Academy of Pediatrics; Volume: 125; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1542/peds.2009-2712

1098-4275

Laura Richardson, Carol Rockhill, Joan Russo, David C. Grossman, Julie Richards, Carolyn A. McCarty, Elizabeth McCauley, Wayne Katon,

Adolescent and Pediatric Healthcare

To examine the validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire 2 (PHQ-2), a 2-item depression-screening scale, among adolescents.After completing a brief depression screen, 499 youth (aged 13-17 years) who were enrolled in an integrated health care system were invited to participate in a full assessment, including a longer depression-screening scale (Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression screen) and a structured mental health interview (Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children). Eighty-nine percent (n = 444) completed the assessment. Criterion validity and construct validity were tested by examining associations between the PHQ-2 and other measures of depression and functional impairment.A PHQ-2 score of > or =3 had a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 75% for detecting youth who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria for major depression on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children and a sensitivity of 96% and specificity of 82% for detecting youth who met criteria for probable major depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item depression screen. On receiver operating characteristic analysis, the PHQ-2 had an area under the curve of 0.84 (95% confidence interval: 0.75-0.92), and a cut point of 3 was optimal for maximizing sensitivity without loss of specificity for detecting major depression. Youth with a PHQ-2 score of > or =3 had significantly higher functional-impairment scores and significantly higher scores for parent-reported internalizing problems than youth with scores of <3.The PHQ-2 has good sensitivity and specificity for detecting major depression. These properties, coupled with the brief nature of the instrument, make this tool promising as a first step for screening for adolescent depression in primary care.