Comparative potential of the 2-item versus the 9-item patient health questionnaire to predict death or rehospitalization in heart failure.

BACKGROUND Depression is common in heart failure and associated with adverse clinical outcomes. We investigated the potential of the 2-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-2) versus that of the 9-item version (PHQ-9) to predict death or rehospitalization. METHODS AND RESULTS Participants of the Interdisciplinary Network for Heart Failure program were eligible, if they completed the PHQ-9 during baseline assessment. All participants were hospitalized for cardiac decompensation and had a left ventricular ejection fraction ≤40% before discharge. PHQ-2 scores were extracted from the answers to the first 2 PHQ-9 questions. To analyze associations of PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 with both, death and rehospitalization, univariable Cox regression models were used. To compare screening efficacy of both tools, c-statistics were computed. The sample consisted of 852 patients, (67.6±12.1 years; 27.7% women; 42.3% New York Heart Association class III/IV). Follow-up was 18 months (100% complete). During follow-up, 152 patients died and 482 were rehospitalized. Both, PHQ-2 and PHQ-9, predicted death in univariable analysis (hazard ratio, 1.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-1.29; P<0.001 and hazard ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.09; P<0.001, respectively), as well as rehospitalization (hazard ratio, 1.07; confidence interval, 1.01-1.21; P=0.02 and hazard ratio, 1.03; confidence interval, 1.01-1.04; P=0.001, respectively). These results were confirmed by c-statistics. CONCLUSIONS In univariable models and confirmed by c-statistics the potential of both PHQ-2 and PHQ-9 to predict death and hospitalization was similar. In clinical practice, PHQ-2 screening seems thus sufficiently reliable and more feasible than the time-consuming PHQ-9 to identify patients at an increased risk of adverse outcomes. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL: http://www.controlled-trials.com. Unique identifier: ISRCTN 23325295.