--- title: "PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 items)" description: "Created in 2001 and now a very dominant self-report questionnaire. One of the mandatory measures in IAPT (or now \"NHS talking therapies, for anxiety and depression programme\"). #### Details A nine item questionnaire which asks about the last two weeks…" url: "https://www.psyctc.org/psyctc/glossary2/phq-9-patient-health-questionnaire-9-items/" updated: "2026-06-01" category: All OM book glossary entries --- # PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 items) Created in 2001 and now a very dominant self-report questionnaire. One of the mandatory measures in IAPT (or now "NHS talking therapies, for anxiety and depression programme"). #### Details A nine item questionnaire which asks about the last two weeks (yes, it is two weeks). The nine items cover the DSM-IV (yes, DSM-IV not DSM-5) criteria for "major depressive disorder" (MDD) each answered on a four level frequency rating: 0 = Not at all 1 = Several days 2 = More than half the days 3 = Nearly every day. That creates a score range from zero to 27. I haven't seen any definitive guide about prorating missing items and it is probably often delivered now through web forms or apps that don’t allow non-response. As you can see, it's a very "illness model" and diagnosis framed measure. The PHQ-8 is a short version that omits the risk to self item and the PHQ-4 combines two items from the PHQ-9 with two from the GAD-7 to create an ultra-short measure for both depression and anxiety. It is copyright to the drug company Pfizer Pfizer ([https://www.phqscreeners.com/](https://www.phqscreeners.com/)) and they make no charge for reproduction though the licence has never been made explicit as far as I know.  With the GAD-7 it has become almost a *de rigeur*measure in mental health research, not very deservedly in my view! #### Try also - [GAD-7](https://www.psyctc.org/psyctc/glossary2/gad-7-general-anxiety-disorder-7/) - Depression - Diagnosis - DSM - [PHQ-4](https://www.psyctc.org/psyctc/glossary2/phq-4/) - [PHQ-8](https://www.psyctc.org/psyctc/glossary2/phq-8/) #### Chapters Mentioned in Chapter 4. #### Online resources None current or likely I suspect. #### Dates First created 7.ii.25, updated 26.iv.26.