Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4)
The PHQ-4 combines the first two questions of the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 into a four-item measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the past two weeks. It provides a total score and two two-item subscores, but no diagnosis.
- Scientific name
- Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4)
- Primary reference
- Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW, Löwe B. An Ultra-Brief Screening Scale for Anxiety and Depression: The PHQ-4. Psychosomatics. 2009;50(6):613–621. Open publication
- Time
- 1 min
- Length
- 4 questions
- Cost
- Free basic result
- Age
- Adults 18+
What this covers
- Anxiety symptoms
- Frequency of the two GAD-2 anxiety symptoms during the past two weeks.
- Depressive symptoms
- Frequency of the two PHQ-2 depressive symptoms during the past two weeks.
Who it is for
Adults who want an ultra-brief starting point covering both anxiety and depressive symptoms.
What your result can show
The four responses are summed to a total from 0 to 12. The anxiety and depressive symptom pairs are also shown separately from 0 to 6. These ranges describe reported symptom frequency only.
Important limitations
Because it contains only four questions, the PHQ-4 provides less detail than the PHQ-9 or GAD-7. Similar symptoms can have many causes and require context.
A higher score does not establish a diagnosis. A lower score does not show that a condition is absent.
Evidence and permission
PHQ-4 © Pfizer Inc.; developed by Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke, and colleagues.
Your answers and result stay on this device. After completion, you can separately choose to upload derived scores for a private link that expires after 180 days.