Critical Assessment (Section III). Psychometric Characteristics. Psychology Essay

Psychometric Characteristics
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Psychometric Characteristics
Patient Health Questionnaire is an assessment tool that is mainly used in detecting anxiety and depression. Regarding the importance of the PHQ to clinicians, its accuracy, validity, and reliability is a significant factor to consider. The above mentioned are vital to any medical diagnosis.
From the studies carried out, it is crystal that the PHQ is more accurate in screening and detecting depression in patients as compared to detecting anxiety disorders. The PHQ, which is a short questionnaire, has been reported to have excellent reliability and validity for detecting and identifying significant depressive symptoms as well as measuring the seriousness of the depressive symptoms. The PHQ test has been used in clinics that provide primary health care services. Results from a study indicate that it is also helpful in clinics that offer medical care for psychiatric patients. As regards the PHQ criterion validity, only a few research and studies have been carried out. Some have noted that the PHQ liaises with the clinical diagnosis and other screening tools for mental disorders such as depression and anxiety. Clinician diagnosis done independently without assessing interviews is considered to have doubtful validity. The PHQ test should be followed with other medical assessments, as some studies have found that it is not very accurate. It is primarily used to detect significant episodes of depression as opposed to chronic depressive disorder (T, 2012). The reason for this is the problematic criteria that PHQ uses in such cases. The DSM-IV-TR, for example, excludes manic and hypomanic episodes in the screening of a major depressive disorder; however, this is not true for the PHQ. Using the PHQ, a notable number of bipolar patients are commonly misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder merely because a significant episode of depression is associated, i...