PHQ-9
Assesses depression severity and screens for MDD
- Highest activation tier
- Mandatory
- How it is scored
- Scored in code; a detected disagreeing draft value is flagged for correction
- Care settings
- Emergency department, Inpatient, Outpatient
When it activates
Scribeable activates a calculator from the encounter. The PHQ-9 can activate when the transcript or pasted chart context documents any of these:
- Depression screening
- Mood disorder evaluation
- Antidepressant monitoring
- Suicidal ideation assessment
A coded diagnosis can also activate it. ICD-10 prefixes carried by the registry: F32, F33.
Note-type scope: it activates on notes whose subject resolves to psychiatry, hospital medicine. A note that resolves to another subject does not carry it even when the clinician's specialty matches; a note with no resolvable subject (a generic consultation) falls back to the specialty match.
Inputs the note needs
1 input. Each is resolved from the transcript, the pasted chart context and charted labs; an input marked "asks you" is requested as a clarification when it is undocumented.
| Input | Type | Unit / options | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patient-reported PHQ-9 total | symptom |
Scoring
9 questions scored 0-3 each. Total 0-27. Question 9 addresses suicidal ideation - always assess if positive.
Sum of 9 Likert items (each 0-3) = Patient-reported PHQ-9 total; total range 0-27
Interpretation
0-4: Minimal. 5-9: Mild. 10-14: Moderate. 15-19: Moderately severe. 20-27: Severe. >=10 is 88% sensitive/specific for MDD.
Evidence
Sources carried in Scribeable's citation registry for this calculator.
- Kroenke K et al. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measureKroenke et al. (PHQ-9) 1999 · 2001 · Level I · link last verified 2026-03-23
How Scribeable handles it in the note
When an encounter activates the PHQ-9 at the mandatory tier, Scribeable resolves its inputs from the transcript, the pasted chart context and any charted labs, and asks you for a missing input you can supply before the note is finalised. Bedside-exam and separately ordered study values are not requested one input at a time; a calculator that carries a combined clarification question may still put that single question to you.
The score is computed in code from the resolved inputs, not recalled by the language model. If the draft states a PHQ-9 value that disagrees with the computed one, the disagreement is flagged to the second drafting pass, which is instructed to correct the score and its interpretation before you see the note.
Classified as a questionnaire: a patient-reported or clinician-rated instrument, where a spare activation carries low harm.
See it activate on your own encounter
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