PHQ-9 is used as a screening tool for what condition?

• A. Depression screening
• B. Anxiety screening
• C. Alcohol screening
• D. Cardiac risk assessment

Answer: (A)

PHQ-9 is a brief self‑report questionnaire used to screen for depression. It asks about nine symptoms that people have experienced over the past two weeks, with each item scored from 0 to 3 (not at all, several days, more than half the days, nearly every day). Adding up the scores gives a 0–27 total, and higher totals indicate greater depressive symptom burden. This tool is commonly used in primary care to identify people who may have depression, to support provisional diagnosis alongside a clinical interview, and to monitor how symptoms change over time. It’s specifically for depression, not for anxiety, alcohol use, or cardiac risk, which have their own separate screening tools.