Detection of depression in low resource settings: validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and cultural concepts of distress in Nepal
Abstract
Despite recognition of the burden of disease due to mood disorders in low- and middle-income countries, there is a lack of consensus on best practices for detecting depression. Self-report screening tools, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), require modification for low literacy populations and to assure cultural and clinical validity. An alternative approach is to employ idioms of distress that are locally salient, but these are not synonymous with psychiatric categories. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the validity of the PHQ-9, assess the added value of using idioms of distress, and develop an algorithm for depression detection in primary care.
Citation
Kohrt, B.A.; Luitel, N.P.; Acharya, P.; Jordans, M.J. Detection of depression in low resource settings: validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and cultural concepts of distress in Nepal. BMC Psychiatry (2016) 16 (1) [DOI: 10.1186/s12888-016-0768-y]