Thus, non-psychiatric health care providers need a brief instrument to diagnose depressive symptoms, particularly in the population of patients with HF. The BDI-II also has a pre-administration fee, which makes it expensive to use in the primary care settings. On average, it takes about five minutes to complete.

It consists of 21 items with up to six response options for each. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) is a valid, self-report measure of depressive symptoms however, it is relatively long and complex. 20 The potential overlap of depressive symptoms and symptoms of HF or associated co-morbidities also creates a challenge for clinicians in the diagnosis of depressive symptoms in patients with HF. 16- 19 Several factors may contribute to under-treatment, but a major issue is lack of clinician familiarity and comfort with assessing depression. However, depressive symptoms commonly go undiagnosed and untreated. 5- 15 Therefore, identifying depressive symptoms in patients with HF is important to improve patientsРІР‚в„ў physical and mental well-being. 2- 4Р”Вepression in patients with HF is associated with poor functional status, poor adherence to medication and exercise, poor perceived control, increased morbidity and mortality, and increased readmission rates. 1 About 14% to 63% of patients with HF have depressive symptoms. HF affects more than 5.7 million Americans. The purpose of this study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) as a measure of depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure (HF). Heart failure, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, perceived control, validity, reliability Introduction

Phq-9 validity and reliability