Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15)

Somatic Symptom Severity Scale

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by stomach pain?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by back pain?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by pain in your arms, legs or joints (knees, hips, etc.)?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by menstrual cramps or other problems with your periods?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by headaches?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by dizziness?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by feeling your heart pound or race?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by shortness of breath?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by pain or problems during sexual intercourse?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by constipation, loose bowels or diarrhea?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by nausea, gas or indigestion?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by feeling tired or having low energy?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by trouble sleeping?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by chest pain?

Over the last week, how often have you been bothered by fainting spells?

About

The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) is a somatic symptoms subscale derived from a self- administered version of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) diagnostic instrument for common mental disorders. The PRIME-MD was an questionnaire developed and validated in the early 1990s to efficiently diagnose five of the most common types of mental disorders presenting in medical populations: depressive, anxiety, somatoform, alcohol, and eating disorders. The PHQ-15 is simple, quick, unrestricted, and international but may not be ideal for all purposes.

The PHQ-15 is a valid and moderately reliable questionnaire for the detection of patients in a primary care setting at risk for somatoform disorders. It’s not however ideal as a diagnostic questionnaire, as it alone is insufficient to meet the full diagnostic criteria required for a DSM-V diagnosis of Somatic Symptom Disorder. The PHQ-15 has a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 71% for a DSM-IV diagnosis of somatoform disorder. It’s important to keep in mind if you are using the PHQ-15 as a screening tool, false positives can include Panic disorder, Generalized anxiety disorder, Depressive disorders, Illness anxiety disorder, functional neurological symptom disorder, Delusional disorder, Body dysmorphic disorder, or Obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The PHQ -15 is comprised of 15 somatic symptoms that account for more than 90% o the physical symptoms reported, excluding upper respiratory symptoms, of the questions 13 of them are related to physical symptoms, however two physical symptoms - feeling tired or having little energy, and trouble sleeping – are also associated with depression and part of the PHQ-9 questionnaire.

Ideally the PHQ-15 can serves as an continuous measure of somatic symptom (physical) severity and the PHQ-15 score illustrates more clearly the relationship between graded increases in somatic symptom severity and various health outcomes. Allowing the PHQ-15 to track changes in the severity of the individual’s somatic symptoms over time, the measure may be completed at regular intervals as clinically indicated, depending on the stability of the individual’s symptoms and treatment status. Consistently high scores on a particular domain may indicate significant and problematic areas for the patient that might warrant further assessment, treatment, and follow-up.

Published Literature & References:

[1]
Kocalevent RD, Hinz A, Brähler E.: Standardization of a screening instrument (PHQ-15) for somatization syndromes in the general population.BMC Psychiatry 2013 March 20, 13: 91
[2]
Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB.: The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms.Psychosomatic Medicine 2002, 64 (2): 258-66
[3]
Van ravesteijn H, Wittkampf K, Lucassen P, et al.: Detecting somatoform disorders in primary care with the PHQ-15.Annals of Family Medicine 2009, 7 (3): 232-8
[4]
Spitzer RL, Williams JBW, Kroenke K, Linzer M, deGruy FV, Hahn SR, Brody D, Johnson JG.: Utility of a new procedure for diagnosing mental disorders in primary care: ThePRIME-MD 1000 study.JAMA 1994 December 14, 272 (22): 1749-56
[5]
Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB.: Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. Patient Health Questionnaire.JAMA 1999 November 10, 282 (18): 1737-44

Results

Real-time automated computation

0/2 calculated

PHQ-15 Score

Awaiting input values...

Somatic Symptom Severity

Awaiting input values...

Clinical Parameters (0/15)

Medical calculation formulas standardized according to evidence-based clinical protocols.

About

Published Literature & References:

[1]
Kocalevent RD, Hinz A, Brähler E.: Standardization of a screening instrument (PHQ-15) for somatization syndromes in the general population.BMC Psychiatry 2013 March 20, 13: 91
[2]
Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB.: The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms.Psychosomatic Medicine 2002, 64 (2): 258-66
[3]
Van ravesteijn H, Wittkampf K, Lucassen P, et al.: Detecting somatoform disorders in primary care with the PHQ-15.Annals of Family Medicine 2009, 7 (3): 232-8
[4]
Spitzer RL, Williams JBW, Kroenke K, Linzer M, deGruy FV, Hahn SR, Brody D, Johnson JG.: Utility of a new procedure for diagnosing mental disorders in primary care: ThePRIME-MD 1000 study.JAMA 1994 December 14, 272 (22): 1749-56
[5]
Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB.: Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders. Patient Health Questionnaire.JAMA 1999 November 10, 282 (18): 1737-44