Minimal detectable change of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Patient Health Questionnaire-8, and Patient Health Questionnaire-2: individual patient data meta-analysis

作者：Yutong Wang, Y N Wu, Nadia P González-Domínguez, Jill Boruff, Brooke Levis, Pim Cuijpers, Simon Gilbody, Daphna Harel, John P A Ioannidis, Sarah Markham, Scott B. Patten, Simone N. Vigod, Roy C. Ziegelstein, Andrea Benedetti, Brett D. Thombs · 发表于：BMJ · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1136/bmj-2026-100119 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Cancer survivorship and care、Mental Health Treatment and Access、Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the minimal detectable change (MDC) for the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and its eight item (PHQ-8) and two item (PHQ-2) versions including differences by participant and study characteristics. DESIGN: Individual participant data meta-analysis. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Medline In-Process and other non-indexed citations, PsycInfo, and Web of Science, 1 January 2000 to 9 May 2018. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: Datasets from articles in any language if participants were aged ≥18 years, were recruited from any non-psychiatric setting, and were not recruited because they were seeking mental healthcare. Eligible datasets had a classification for major depressive disorder or major depressive episode based on a validated semi-structured or fully structured interview conducted within two weeks of administering the PHQ-9, PHQ-8, or PHQ-2. RESULTS: Pooled MDCs across studies were estimated for the PHQ-9, PHQ-8, and PHQ-2 with random effects meta-analysis for 95% (MDC95), 90% (MDC90), and 67% (MDC67) confidence that change beyond measurement error occurred. PHQ-9, PHQ-8, and PHQ-2 analyses included 42 548 participants (94 studies), 42 592 participants (94 studies), and 44 085 participants (98 studies), respectively. Mean participant age was 49 years (standard deviation 17), and 60% of participants were women. Overall, 10% of participants had major depression (range 1-57% across studies). MDC95 was 5.72 points (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.54...