The PHQ-2 asks two questions about interest and mood over the last two weeks. Its total, from 0 to 6, is a quick first screen for depression; 3 or more leads to the full PHQ-9. Answer both questions to score it, see what a positive screen means and what comes next, and record the result with the free template.
PHQ-2 result template
FreePHQ-2 SCREEN Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or chart number, age] Setting: [Annual visit, new patient visit, prenatal visit, pharmacy, or other] Format: [Paper, tablet, or read aloud word for word; language and interpreter if used] SCREEN Item 1, little interest or pleasure: [0 to 3] Item 2, feeling down, depressed, or hopeless: [0 to 3] PHQ-2 total: [0 to 6] Result: [Negative at 0 to 2, or positive at 3 to 6; the cutoff used if not 3] FOLLOW-UP Full PHQ-9: [Given the same visit with total, band, and item 9 score; or not needed] Self-harm: [Asked directly or through item 9, and what the patient said] CONTEXT What else is going on: [Recent losses, stress, illness, pregnancy, new medicines] Past depression: [Earlier episodes and treatment, or none] DECISION Next step: [Interview and plan today, referral, or nothing further on a negative screen] Rescreen: [Next annual visit, next trimester, or a set date] Discussed with patient: [What they were told, and when to come back sooner] Screened by: [Name, role]
Every item as published. The total and what it means update with each answer; nothing you choose leaves this page.
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?
Use it for
The patient answers both items about the last two weeks, on paper, on a tablet, or aloud.
Avoid: Swapping the items for “How’s your mood?” A yes or no question isn’t the PHQ-2, and it can’t be scored.
Each item scores 0 to 3; add them for a total from 0 to 6.
Avoid: Recording only the result. The item scores show which symptom drove it and let the next screen be compared.
Give the full PHQ-9 and talk with the patient, at the same visit if you can. The PHQ-2’s answers are items 1 and 2 of the PHQ-9.
Avoid: Booking the PHQ-9 for another day when there’s time now. Some patients never come back for it.
The PHQ-2 has no question about thoughts of death or self-harm, so a low score says nothing about them.
Avoid: Reading a negative PHQ-2 as “no risk.” It never asked.
Agree on one cutoff and one interval across the practice, so every screen is read the same way.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Family practice, annual visit, paper form handed out at check-in
Item 1, little interest or pleasure: 2, more than half the days. Item 2, feeling down: 2, more than half the days. Total 4, positive at the cutoff of 3.
Items 3 to 9 asked in the room. Full PHQ-9 total 12, moderate. Item 9: 0. Asked her directly as well: no thoughts of death or of harming herself.
61-year-old woman who retired from teaching in June. Since August she has lost interest in her garden and book club, wakes at 4 a.m., and feels flat most afternoons. Knee osteoarthritis has stopped her daily walks. One episode of depression in her 40s, treated with therapy. No change in alcohol use.
Interview supports a recurrent depressive episode, moderate. TSH and CBC added to today’s bloods. She chose to start with the practice counselor; first session booked for next Tuesday. Physiotherapy referral for the knee so she can walk again. Follow-up visit with a repeat PHQ-9 in 4 weeks. Told to call sooner, or call or text 988, if her mood drops or thoughts of self-harm start.
Prenatal clinic, first visit at 11 weeks, answered on the clinic tablet before the visit
Item 1: 0, not at all. Item 2: 1, several days. Total 1, negative.
PHQ-9 not needed. Asked about thoughts of harming herself as part of the intake history: none, now or in the past.
28-year-old in her first pregnancy, planned. The low days came with the worst of her nausea in weeks 7 and 8, which is now easing. No past depression or anxiety. Lives with her partner, who came to the visit. Her sister had postpartum depression.
Nothing further today. PHQ-2 again at the next visit in 4 weeks, once the nausea has settled, then at 28 weeks, and an EPDS at the postpartum check given her sister’s history. Told her that low mood and anxiety in pregnancy and after the birth are common and treatable, and to bring them up at any visit, not only at the screens.
A PHQ-2 of 3 or more isn’t a diagnosis. It calls for the full PHQ-9 and a conversation, at the same visit where possible.
“Are you depressed?” isn’t the PHQ-2. Ask both items as written, with the two-week window and the four answers.
The PHQ-2 doesn’t ask about self-harm, sleep, or energy. When the visit gives you reason to worry, ask more.
A 0 to 6 scale misses real change. Follow a patient on treatment with the PHQ-9.
Vero Scribe records the PHQ-2 result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: both item scores, the total, the PHQ-9 if you gave it, and the next step. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Each of the two items scores 0 for not at all, 1 for several days, 2 for more than half the days, and 3 for nearly every day. Add them for a total from 0 to 6.
A total of 3 or more is a positive screen, the cutoff its developers recommend. Some services use 2 or more to miss fewer people with depression, at the cost of giving more PHQ-9s. A total of 0 to 2 is a negative screen at the usual cutoff.
Give the full PHQ-9, ideally at the same visit, and talk with the patient about how long the symptoms have lasted, how much they affect daily life, and other possible causes. The PHQ-9 total and the interview decide the next step.
The PHQ-2 is the first two items of the PHQ-9: low interest and low mood. It only screens. The PHQ-9 adds seven items, including item 9 on thoughts of death or self-harm, and its 0 to 27 total grades severity and tracks treatment.
The PHQ-4 is the PHQ-2 and the GAD-2 asked together: four items, scored 0 to 12. Each pair is scored on its own too, and 3 or more on either pair is a positive screen for depression or anxiety.
Patients fill it in themselves, so anyone on the team can hand it out or read it aloud, including medical assistants, nurses, and pharmacists. A clinician should review a positive screen and follow it up.
Yes. No permission is needed to reproduce, translate, or use it, and the official forms and translations are on the PHQ Screeners site. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download too.
Nine questions on the last two weeks: depression screening and severity, scored 0 to 27.
Seven questions on worry and tension: anxiety screening and severity, scored 0 to 21.
Up to six questions on suicidal thoughts and behavior; the highest yes sets low, moderate, or high risk.
Twenty items on the past month: PTSD screening and symptom tracking, scored 0 to 80.
Ten self-report items on the past 7 days: depression screening in pregnancy and after birth, scored 0 to 30.
The preventive visit where the PHQ-2 is most often asked.
Annual visits and follow-ups documented, screening results included.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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