Validation of Persian Version of PHQ-9 for Diagnosis of Major depressive Episode in Psychiatric Wards in IRAN

The study was designed to validate a Persian translate of 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for screening depression in clinical setting. Method: It was a cross sectional study in two psychiatric clinics. 61 Major Depressive Disorder patients (according to Structural Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), and 61 without this diagnosis entred through convenience sampling. PHQ-9 was given to patients and controls. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC and paired T test), Cronbach's alpha coefficient were calculated for test-retest reliability and internal consistency respectively. ROC curves were used to calculate sensitivity and specificity of the test. Results: According to the ROC curve results, PHQ-9 score equal or greater than 12 offers the greatest Youden Index for the diagnosis of major depression episode (MDE), with a sensitivity and specificity of 80.3% and 78.7%, respectively. Conclusion: according to our study Persian type of PHQ-9 is a valid and reliable tool for diagnosing major deopressive episodes in clinical settings. It is usefull for detection of MDE severity as well.