This paper has been accepted and is currently in production.
It will appear shortly on 10.2196/76230
The final accepted version (not copyedited yet) is in this tab.
“Helpful in Thinking Through the Question": Re-designing the PHQ-8 for Depression Assessment to Enhance Patient Engagement and Understanding
ABSTRACT
Background:
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a prevalent and impairing mental health condition characterized by persistent low mood, diminished energy, and disrupted sleep. Self-report instruments, such as the PHQ-8, are frequently used in clinical and research settings for depression assessment. However, repeated administration of these tools may lead to survey fatigue, diminished patient engagement, and misunderstanding of survey-item content, undermining patient satisfaction and compromising the validity of the responses.
Objective:
The objective of our study was to address these limitations, so we developed, redesigned, and tested two new versions of the PHQ-8, incorporating visualizations and reframed statements aimed at improving acceptability and comprehension.
Methods:
In a mixed-methods study, 20 participants with high subclinical to moderately severe depressive symptoms provided feedback after completing three versions: the standard PHQ-8 form, our version augmented with visual aids, and our version that combined visual aids with rephrased item statements for greater clarity and engagement.
Results:
Results showed that 80% of participants expressed a preference for the augmented PHQ-8 over the traditional PHQ-8 that was statistically significant, where p was equal to 0.006.
Conclusions:
Participants cited their preference for the augmented PHQ-8 was related to improved understanding, ease of use, and engagement.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.