Nov 17, 2020 | 2 minute read

Somatic / Physical Symptoms | PHQ-15

Adapted Patient Health Questionnaire 15 (PHQ-15)

Recommended frequency: Every 2 weeks

Summary

This measure has been adapted from the Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms (PHQ-15) by the American Psychiatric Association (“APA”) for use by children and adolescents.The PHQ-15 is a well-validated scale that can be used to screen for somatization concerns and monitor symptom severity.

The APA version is identical to the 15-item version, although two items have been removed. Each item evaluates the degree to which an individual has been bothered by a specific somatic concern during the past week on a 3-point Likert scale. Higher scores on the PHQ-15 correspond to increased functional impairment. The self-report scale can be used by individuals between the ages of 11 to 17. A parent/caregiver version is also available and can be completed by individuals whose child is between the ages of 6 to 17.

Psychometric Properties

The PHQ-15 demonstrates good internal consistency (α = .80) when used by adults. It also has good test-retest reliability and convergent validity with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12).

Sources:

The Scale

Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

Scoring

Severity of somatic symptoms is determined by assigning 0-2 to the response categories of “not bothered at all”, “bothered a little”, and “bothered a lot”, respectively. The sum of all 13 items represents the severity of symptoms as determined by the youth/adolescent or parent/caretaker. Total scores range from 0-26, higher scores indicating a greater severity of somatic symptoms. The table below indicates the severity ranges for an individual’s scores.