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Table 3 Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for different thresholds of the PHQ-9 and the PHQ-2.

From: The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for detection of major depressive disorder in primary care: consequences of current thresholds in a crosssectional study

PHQ-9 threshold

Sensitivity

(95% CI)

Specificity

(95% CI)

PPV

(95% CI)

NPV

(95% CI)

≥4

0.89 (0.84-0.94)

0.64 (0.61-0.67)

0.27 (0.23-0.31)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

≥5

0.86 (0.81-0.91)

0.75 (0.73-0.77)

0.34 (0.30-0.38)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

≥6

0.82 (0.76-0.88)

0.82 (0.80-0.84)

0.41 (0.36-0.46)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

≥7

0.74 (0.68-0.80)

0.87 (0.85-0.89)

0.47 (0.41-0.53)

0.96 (0.95-0.97)

≥8

0.65 (0.58-0.72)

0.90 (0.88-0.92)

0.51 (0.44-0.58)

0.94 (0.93-0.95)

≥9

0.57 (0.50-0.64)

0.93 (0.92-0.94)

0.55 (0.48-0.62)

0.94 (0.93-0.95)

≥10

0.49 (0.42-0.56)

0.95 (0.94-0.96)

0.59 (0.51-0.67)

0.93 (0.92-0.94)

≥11

0.44 (0.37-0.51)

0.96 (0.95-0.97)

0.61 (0.53-0.61)

0.92 (0.90-0.94)

≥12

0.39 (0.32-0.46)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

0.64 (0.55-0.74)

0.92 (0.89-0.93)

PHQ-9 algorithm

0.28 (0.21-0.35)

0.98 (0.97-0.99)

0.69 (0.58-0.80)

0.90 (0.88-0.92)

PHQ-9 adjusted algorithm

0.84 (0.79-0.89)

0.81 (0.79-0.83)

0.40 (0.35-0.45)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

PHQ-2 threshold

    

≥1

0.90 (0.86-0.94)

0.58 (0.55-0.61)

0.24 (0.21-0.27)

0.98 (0.97-0.99)

≥2

0.81 (0.75-0.84)

0.76 (0.74-0.78)

0.34 (0.29-0.39)

0.96 (0.95-0.97)

≥3

0.42 (0.35-0.49)

0.94 (0.93-0.95)

0.53 (0.45-0.61)

0.91 (0.89-0.93)

≥4

0.31 (0.24-0.38)

0.97 (0.96-0.98)

0.64 (0.54-0.74)

0.90 (0.88-0.92)

≥5

0.19 (0.13-0.25)

0.99 (0.98-1.00)

0.69 (0.56-0.82)

0.89 (0.87-0.91)

≥6

0.14 (0.09-0.19)

0.99 (0.98-1.00)

0.67 (0.52-0.82)

0.88 (0.86-0.90)

  1. For details see text.
  2. PPV: Positive predictive value
  3. NPV: Negative predictive value
  4. 95% CI: 95% Confidence Interval