Study of the discriminative validity of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 in a sample of Brazilian women in the context of primary health care.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to assess the discriminative validity of the Brazilian version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and of its reduced version (PHQ-2). DESIGN AND METHODS: The sample consisted of 177 women (60 cases of depression and 117 noncases). The SCID-IV was used as the gold standard. FINDINGS: For the PHQ-9, a cutoff score equal to or higher than 10 proved to be the most adequate for the screening of depression, whereas the best cutoff score for the PHQ-2 was found to lie between 3 and 4. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: The systematic use of these instruments in nursing and in the context of primary health care could favor the early detection of depression.