The PHQ 9 belongs to a series of mental health questionnaires which evaluate patient symptoms in search for a mental disorder, in this case, depression.
The tool consists of 9 items that relate to different depressive symptoms.
The following table introduces the association between the PHQ 9 scores and depression severity stages:
Score Severity Recommendations
0 – 4 None No specific recommendations
5 – 9 Mild Monitoring symptoms
10 – 19 Moderate Referring for treatment
20 – 27 Severe Starting treatment and monitoring
