Adaptation and initial validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder – 7 Questionnaire (GAD-7) in an Arabic speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample. (30th May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sawaya, Helen; Atoui, Mia; Hamadeh, Aya; Zeinoun, Pia; Nahas, Ziad
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 239(2016)
• Page Start: 245
• Page End: 252
• Publication Date: 2016-05-30
• Subjects: Depression -- Anxiety -- Scale -- Arabic -- Lebanon -- Validation -- Screening; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.03.030
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Abstract: The Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder – 7 (GAD-7) are short screening measures used in medical and community settings to assess depression and anxiety severity. The aim of this study is to translate the screening tools into Arabic and evaluate their psychometric properties in an Arabic-speaking Lebanese psychiatric outpatient sample. The patients completed the questionnaires, among others, prior to being evaluated by a clinical psychiatrist or psychologist. The scales' internal consistency and factor structure were measured and convergent and discriminant validity were established by comparing the scores with clinical diagnoses and the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire – MDD subset (PDSQ - MDD). Results showed that the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are reliable screening tools for depression and anxiety and their factor structures replicated those reported in the literature. Sensitivity and specificity analyses showed that the PHQ-9 is sensitive but not specific at capturing depressive symptoms when compared to clinician diagnoses whereas the GAD-7 was neither sensitive nor specific at capturing anxiety symptoms. The implications of these findings are discussed in reference to the scales themselves and the cultural specificity of the Lebanese population. Highlights: The PHQ-9 has a two factor solution (mood and somatization); the GAD-7 is unidimensional. The PHQ-9 has high internal consistency, good sensitivity and poor specificity in a sample of Lebanese psychiatric patients. The GAD-7 showed poor psychometric properties in a sample of Lebanese psychiatric outpatients. The joint factor analysis run on PHQ-9 and GAD-7 items revealed a two-factor solution, with double-loadings for two items. The PHQ-9 can be used to detect depressive symptoms in the Lebanese population. More research needs to be done to assess the manifestation of depressive and anxiety symptoms in this specific culture.