title: Validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire, PHQ-9, administered through interactive-voice-response technology.
abstract: We compared the administration of the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depressive symptoms using interactive voice response (IVR) technology with the method of administration using paper-and-pencil. Data were collected from 51 veterans participating in an 8-week randomized controlled trial of an illness management programme for heart failure. To counter possible bias in answering questions via IVR technology, the anchoring responses of the PHQ-9 questionnaire were reversed so that lower numbers corresponded to more severe depression. The mean for the pencil-and-paper administered PHQ-9 was 4.1 (SD = 4.5) and the mean for IVR administration was 2.8 (SD = 3.1). The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) of the PHQ-9 was 0.76 for IVR administration and 0.82 for paper administration. The intraclass correlation coefficient for the two modes of administration was 0.65, indicating moderate agreement. IVR administration of the PHQ-9 produces similar results to pencil-and-paper administration, but the former is not as sensitive to higher levels of depressive symptom severity. This suggests that a lower threshold for probable depression is warranted when assessing depressive symptoms with IVR.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation, Iowa City VA Health Care System (152), 601 Highway West, Iowa City, IA 52246, USA. carolyn.turvey@va.gov
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turvey
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sheeran
authors.forename: Lilian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dindo
authors.forename: Bonnie
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001330:Electronic Data Processing / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000523:psychology; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014728:Veterans; D014831:Voice