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Validity and Performance of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) for Screening of Depression in a Rural Chilean Cohort

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Abstract

Validity of PHQ-2 to screen for depression was assessed in an agricultural population in Chile. The sample included 4767 adults enrolled from 2014 to 2017 in a population-based cohort of chronic disease in Maule, Chile. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to find the optimal PHQ-2 cut-off for depression, defined as the highest Youden index, using PHQ-9 as a reference standard. Sensitivity, specificity, and Youden J index were calculated for every cut-off point of PHQ-2. Prevalence of depression measured by PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 was 18% and 18.4%, respectively. Corresponding rates for women were 24.7% and 23.6%, and 8.3% and 10.9 for men. The optimal PHQ-2 cut-off score was 3, achieved with a sensitivity of 74.6%, specificity 93.9%, and Youden index of 0.68. The area under the curve for the ROC analysis ROC curve was 0.92 (95% CI 0.91–0.93). PHQ-2 has good performance for use as a test for depression screening in a rural population of Chile and can be easily applied in areas with low resources.

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Acknowledgements

MAUCO Research team: Claudia Bambs, Sandra Cortés, Fabio Paredes, Andrea Huidobro, Pia Venegas, Johanna Acevedo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Psiquiatría, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, Quinto Piso, Santiago Centro, Santiago, 8330049, Chile

    Constanza Caneo & Pablo Toro

  2. MAUCO Cohort/Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases. ACCDiS, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Pablo Toro

  3. MAUCO Cohort/Advanced Center for Chronic Diseases, ACCDiS. Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Diagonal Paraguay 362, Santiago, Chile

    Catterina Ferreccio

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  1. Constanza Caneo
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  2. Pablo Toro
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  3. Catterina Ferreccio
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the Mauco Research Team

  • Claudia Bambs
  • , Sandra Cortés
  • , Fabio Paredes
  • , Andrea Huidobro
  • , Pia Venegas
  •  & Johanna Acevedo

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Correspondence to Constanza Caneo.

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Caneo, C., Toro, P., Ferreccio, C. et al. Validity and Performance of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-2) for Screening of Depression in a Rural Chilean Cohort. Community Ment Health J 56, 1284–1291 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00605-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00605-8

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