PHQ-15
Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15)
The PHQ-15 is a 15-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure the severity of common somatic symptoms over the past 4 weeks. It is widely used in primary care, clinical psychology, and research to screen for somatic symptom burden, particularly in presentations of somatization, somatic symptom disorder, functional pain, or comorbid anxiety and depression. Its main value is to offer a quick, standardized, change-sensitive measure for identifying the subjective impact of physical complaints and monitoring their course. It is a screening and monitoring tool, not a diagnostic instrument on its own.
- Number of questions
- 15 questions
- Estimated duration
- 3 minutes
- Language
- English
- Original name
- Patient Health Questionnaire-15
- Target audience
- Adults
- Authors
- Kurt Kroenke, Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B. W. Williams (2002)
Scoring & interpretation
Score each item from 0 to 2 according to how bothered the person has been during the past 4 weeks: 0 = Not bothered at all, 1 = Bothered a little, 2 = Bothered a lot. Add up the 15 items to obtain a total score from 0 to 30. Usual interpretation cutoffs: 5 = low severity, 10 = medium severity, 15 = high severity of somatic symptoms. The higher the score, the greater the symptom burden; interpretation should be integrated into the medical and psychological context.
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Clinical relevance
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—Do the results seem reliable and consistent in their interpretation?
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