Factor Structures of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Instruments in Exploring Depressive Symptoms of Suburban Population

Linh Gia Vu; Linh Khanh Le; Anh Vu Trong Dam; Son Hoang Nguyen; Thuc Thi Minh Vu; Trang Thu Hong Trinh; Anh Linh Do; Ngoc Minh Do; Trang Huyen Le; Carl Latkin; Roger C M Ho; Cyrus S H Ho

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.838747

Factor Structures of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Instruments in Exploring Depressive Symptoms of Suburban Population

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Aug 3:13:838747. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.838747. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Linh Gia Vu^{1

2}, Linh Khanh Le³, Anh Vu Trong Dam^{1

2}, Son Hoang Nguyen⁴, Thuc Thi Minh Vu⁵, Trang Thu Hong Trinh⁶, Anh Linh Do⁵, Ngoc Minh Do⁷, Trang Huyen Le⁸, Carl Latkin^{9

10}, Roger C M Ho^{11

12}, Cyrus S H Ho¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Global Health Innovations, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
² Faculty of Medicine, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, Vietnam.
³ Troy University, Troy, AL, United States.
⁴ Center of Excellence in Evidence-Based Medicine, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
⁵ Institute of Health Economics and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁶ Harvard Extension School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States.
⁷ Vinschool, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁸ Sub-Department of Food Hygiene and Safety, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁹ Institute for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam.
¹⁰ Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
¹¹ Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
¹² Institute for Health Innovation and Technology (iHealthtech), National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.

Abstract

Background: This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and assess the relationship between the PHQ-9 domain and demographics and health behaviors in Vietnamese people.

Materials and methods: The PHQ9 was administered to 899 participants. Exploratory factor and reliability analyses were performed. Tobit regression and Ordered logistic regression were further performed to determine factors associated with the PHQ-9 score and characteristics of depression.

Results: The 2-factor model of PHQ-9, including factor 1 "Somatic" and factor 2 "Cognitive/Affective," showed good psychometric properties. The Cronbach's alpha value showed high internal consistency in two factors (0.84 and 0.80, respectively). Gender, health behavior exercising, drinking, and health status had associations with both factors of the PHQ-9 model.

Conclusion: The PHQ-9 scale is a valid and reliable instrument to assess depression in the Vietnam population. This scale can be a useful screening tool for depression; however, further validation studies in other populations are required.

Keywords: PHQ9; depression; reliability; suburban area; validation.