Distributional patterns of item responses and total scores on the PHQ-9 in the general population: data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Table 1 PHQ-9 item responses

Item	Item response (%)				Rate of “2” to “1”	Rate of “3” to “2”
Item	0	1	2	3	Rate of “2” to “1”	Rate of “3” to “2”
Anhedonia	73.8	16.3	5.4	4.4	0.33	0.81
Depressed mood	75.7	16.8	3.9	3.6	0.23	0.93
Sleep problems	63.3	20.9	6.5	9.2	0.31	1.42
Low energy	49.1	34.0	7.8	9.0	0.23	1.15
Appetite change	74.8	15.5	5.1	4.6	0.33	0.90
Low self-esteem	82.6	11.5	2.9	3.0	0.25	1.06
Concentration difficulties	82.1	10.9	3.6	3.5	0.33	0.98
Psychomotor agitation or retardation	88.8	6.8	2.5	1.9	0.36	0.77
Suicidal ideation	96.6	2.3	0.6	0.6	0.26	1.00
Average	76.3	15.0	4.3	4.4	0.29 ± 0.05	1.00 ± 0.20

Each of the nine items is scored with 4-point response options: 0 (not at all), 1 (several days), 2 (more than half the days), and 3 (nearly every day). Average rate data are presented as Mean ± 1SD