title: [Sensitivity and specificity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) among adults from the general population].
abstract: This population-based study focused on the validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) for screening major depressive episodes in the general population in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Households were selected by multi-stage sampling, and adults (> 20 years) were invited to participate. The gold standard was the structured diagnostic Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), applied by psychiatrists and psychologists. Both the PHQ-9 and the MINI were applied in the subjects' homes. In a total of 447 participants (191 men and 256 women), the continuous analysis identified > 9 as the cutoff point with the highest sensitivity (77.5%; 61.5-89.2) and specificity (86.7%; 83.0- 89.9). Use of the test's algorithm decreased the sensitivity to 42.5% (27.0-59.1), while the specificity increased to 95.3% (92.8-97.2). The PHQ-9 proved appropriate for screening major depressive episodes. For greater sensitivity, the continuously scored PHQ-9 proved more adequate than the algorithm for screening major depressive episodes in the community.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brasil.
authors.forename: Iná S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Beatriz Franck
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Tavares
authors.forename: Tiago N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Munhoz
authors.forename: Laura Sigaran Pio de
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Nathália Tessele Barreto da
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Bernardo Dias
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Tams
authors.forename: André Machado
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Patella
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Matijasevich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires