Table II.

Sensitivity and specificity of screening measures compared to diagnostic interviews

Measuresa	Sensitivity %	Specificity %	(n)	Criteriona	Reference
PHQ-2	83	90	580b	Overview of SCID-DSM-III-R and diagnostic questions from PRIME-MD, major depressive disorder, past month	Kroenke et al. (2003)30
PHQ-9	88	88	580b	Overview of SCID-DSM-III-R and diagnostic questions from PRIME-MD, major depressive disorder, past month	Kroenke et al. (2001)32
PHQ-9/DSM-IV	77	94	3,001b	Formal interview based on DSM-IV; SCID-DSM-IV; Overview of SCID-DSM-III-R and diagnostic questions from PRIME-MD, major depressive disorderc	Wittkampf et al. (2007)59
Burnam-3A	81	95	3,116d	DIS-DSM-III, Major depressive episode or dysthymia, past year	Rost et al. (1993)35
Burnam-8c	77	97	3,116d	DIS-DSM-III, Major depressive episode or dysthymia, past year	Rost et al. (1993)35
20 item CES-D	80	71	425b	SCID-DSM-III-R, major depressive disorder, past month	Fechner-Bates et al. (1994)60

^aPHQ: Patient Health Questionnaire; CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale; PRIME-MD: Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders; SCID: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV/DSM-III-R; DIS: Diagnostic Interview Schedule. The PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 with severity coding scheme have very similar operating characteristics⁶¹ and are highly correlated⁶² and are thus treated as equivalent. To our knowledge, there are no studies that examined the sensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9/DSM-IV plus self-reported functional impairment at the cut point used in this study.

^bData were collected in primary care clinics.

^cPooled results from four studies that compared the PHQ-9/DSM-IV with various structured interviews using a random effects model. Only one study provided the time frame of the criterion, which was past month.

^dData were collected in a community sample.