Biological and clinical correlates of the patient health questionnaire-9: exploratory cross-sectional analyses of the baseline health study

ABSTRACT/BACKGROUND

Objectives: We assessed the relationship between the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) at intake and other measurements intended to assess biological factors, markers of disease and health status.

Design, setting and participants: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 2365 participants from the Baseline Health Study, a prospective cohort of adults selected to represent major demographic groups in the USA. Participants underwent deep phenotyping on demographic, clinical, laboratory, functional and imaging findings.

Importance: Despite extensive research on the clinical implications of the PHQ-9, data are limited on the relationship between PHQ-9 scores and other measures of health and disease; we sought to better understand this relationship.