Built to over-refer, not to diagnose
The PHQ-2 trades precision for speed. At a cut-off of 3 it catches the large majority of depression cases but produces many false positives — that is by design, because the follow-up is simply a longer questionnaire rather than anything invasive.
What happens after a positive screen
A positive PHQ-2 leads to the full PHQ-9, which adds sleep, appetite, energy, concentration, self-worth, psychomotor, and self-harm items and produces a severity band that can be tracked over time.
FAQ
What is a positive PHQ-2?
A total of 3 or more out of 6 is considered positive and triggers the full PHQ-9.
Is the PHQ-2 accurate?
It has high sensitivity but modest specificity — good at catching cases, less good at ruling them in. It is a doorway, not an answer.
Why only two questions?
Anhedonia and depressed mood are the two required criteria for major depressive disorder, so screening on them alone captures most cases.
How this calculator is built
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Written by Sam Doshi and the RevenueLab editorial team. We don't sell the data feeds this tool is built on.
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Reviewed on a rolling quarterly cycle. Dated reviews are published on the methodology record for each calculator.
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See our editorial policy and disclaimer. Results are estimates, not advice.