ArticleBMC psychiatry2020
The validity and reliability of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for screening depression in primary health care patients in Botswana.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy of mental health screening tools applicable to adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of vitamin D supplementation on depression in older Australian adults.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Quality of life outcomes in two phase 3 trials of setmelanotide in patients with obesity due to LEPR or POMC deficiency.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2022Trial
- Psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in the Dominican Republic.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Prevalence of depression and association with quality-of-life among oncology patients at Princess Marina Hospital, Botswana: A cross-sectional study.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2026Article
- Exploring depression symptoms in chronic care users in Dr Kenneth Kaunda for culturally relevant counselling.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2025Article
- Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in individuals with a history of eating disorders.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Observational
- A virtual intervention to support educator well-being and students' mental health in conflict-affected Ukraine: A non-randomized controlled trial.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic: prevalence and correlates in a multi-ethnic population Singapore.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Associations of overactive bladder (OAB) with suicidal ideation incidence and all-cause mortality among the U.S. population.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Psychometric Evaluation of Screens for Common Mental Disorders, Severe Mental Disorders, Substance Use Disorders, and Suicide Risk in Mozambican Healthcare.Medical research archives · 2024Article
- Prevalence of Depression and Its Associated Factors Among Hemodialysis Patients in Hodeida City, Yemen.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
- Article
- Screening of Depression Among Medical Outpatients Visiting the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali, Rwanda.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Contraception Awareness and Mental Well-Being in Teenagers and Young Adult Women: A Three-Year Cross-Sectional Analysis.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Psychometric evaluation of PHQ-9 and GAD-7 among community health volunteers and nurses/midwives in Kenya following a nation-wide telephonic survey.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- COVID-somnia: Sleep disturbance among Indian nurses during COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Article
- Psychosocial predictors of anxiety and depression in a sample of healthcare workers in Botswana during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter cross-sectional study.SAGE open medicine · 2022Article
- Construct validity and internal consistency of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) depression screening measure translated into two Ugandan languages.Psychiatry research communications · 2021Article
- A culturally adapted brief intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder in people with severe mental illness in Botswana: protocol for a randomised feasibility trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe lack of locally validated screening instruments contributes to poor detection of depression in primary care. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a brief and freely available screening tool which was developed for primary care settings; however, its accuracy may be affected by the population in which it is administered. This study aimed to determine the validity and reliability of PHQ-9 for screening depression in a primary care population in Botswana.
methodsData was collected from a conveniently selected sample of 257 adult primary care attendants. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) depression module was used as a gold standard to assess criterion validity.
resultsSensitivity and specificity of the PHQ-9 for screening for major depression were 72.4 and 76.3 respectively at a cut off score of nine or more. The area under the ROC curve was 0.808. The PHQ-9 demonstrated good internal consistency with a Cronbach alpha of 0.799. Criterion validity was demonstrated by significant correlation (r = 0.528, p < 0.001) between PHQ-9 and the MINI. Significant negative correlation between PHQ-9 scores and all four domains of the WHO quality of life questionnaire- brief version scores demonstrated good convergent validity.
conclusionsThe PHQ-9 is a reliable and valid instrument to screen for depression in primary care facilities in Botswana. Primary care clinicians in Botswana may use the PHQ-9 to screen for depression with a cut -off score of nine. Further studies should focus on integrating routine depression screening in primary care.
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