Validation of the nine‐item P atient H ealth Q uestionnaire to screen for major depression in a C hinese primary care population

The aim of this study was to examine the reliability and validity of the nine‐item P atient H ealth Q uestionnaire ( PHQ ‐9) for screening depression in C hinese primary care settings. Methods In 100 randomly selected primary care clinics ( PCC ) of H angzhou city, we recruited 2,639 patients (aged ≥18 years) and applied the PHQ ‐9 to screen for depression. Then, 280 of them were further interviewed with the S tructured C linical I nterview for D iagnostic and S tatistical M anual D isorders ( SCID ) for the diagnosis of major depression. Statistical analysis of the demographic data, reliability, validity and receiver–operator curve were performed. Results The mean administration time was 7 minutes, and the C ronbach's α was 0.89. The optimal cutoff score of 10 on the PHQ ‐9 revealed a sensitivity of 0.87, specificity of 0.81, and positive likelihood ratio of 5.04. The area under the receiver–operator curve in this study was 0.91 (95% confidence interval, 0.87–0.94). Discussion The PHQ ‐9 performs well and has acceptable psychometric properties for screening of patients with depression in a C hinese primary care population.