Analysis of the patient health questionnaire during the covid-19 pandemic using IRT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2026.1.47284Keywords:
Psychometrics, Patient Health Questionnaire, Depression, Covid-19Abstract
Although the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9) has been widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic to screen for depressive symptoms, gaps remain in the literature regarding its validity in the Brazilian population during this period. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the PHQ-9 in Brazil using Item Response Theory (IRT). Data were collected during five phases of the pandemic, from 2020 to 2023. SPSS, R, and RStudio software were used for data analysis. The study included 9,229 participants, with more than half of the population presenting clinical symptoms of depression. Good fit parameters were found for the model, with satisfactory performance in the scale’s discrimination and difficulty parameters. The response profile was predominantly dichotomous, and differential item functioning was observed by gender. This research contributes to the establishment of reliable parameters for assessing depressive symptoms.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Heloísa, Brenda Fernanda, Dandara Palhano, And´re Faro
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