Diagnosis of Depression: Psychometric Examination of the Russian Version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Russian version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The participants were 1800 Russians, including 1076 (59.8%) women and 724 (40.2%) men aged 18 to 90 years (M=30.2; SD=14.5). They completed the Russian version of the PHQ-9. The results showed that the Russian PHQ-9 had high internal reliability (α-Cronbach=0.89). The single-factor structure of the Russian PHQ-9, confirmed by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, highlights the factor validity of the adapted questionnaire. Among the Russians surveyed, 34.4% had high depression, from 22.1% to 81.7% of the participants reported various symptoms of depressive disorders. Depressive symptoms were more common in women and younger respondents, with the exception of complaints about sleep problems, which were more common in older respondents. Further psychometric tests of the Russian PHQ-9 should attract objective data and people with diagnosed depressive disorders.