Comparison of screening accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 using two case-identification methods during pregnancy and postpartum

Table 3 ROC Analysis of the PHQ-2 (cut-points ≥2, ≥ 3, yes/no) with EPDS* as criterion standard

Test Variable	AUC	Standard Error	Significance (p)	Lower bound	Upper bound
PHQ-2 ≥ 3
Probable major depression
Baseline	.77	.12	.02	.54	1.0
36-weeks	.77	.13	.04	.51	1.0
6-weeks postpartum	.88	.07	<.001	.75	1.0
26-weeks postpartum	.67	.09	.04	.49	.82
At least probable minor depression
Baseline	.74	.09	.006	.55	.92
36-weeks	.72	.09	.009	.54	.90
6-weeks postpartum	.68	.06	.001	.57	.80
26-weeks postpartum	.58	.06	.13	.47	.70
PHQ-2 ≥ 2
Probable major depression
Baseline	.93	.02	<.001	.89	.97
36-weeks	.90	.03	.002	.84	.96
6-weeks postpartum	.92	.02	<.001	.89	.96
26-weeks postpartum	.88	.06	<.001	.77	.98
At least probable minor depression
Baseline	.94	.02	<.001	.91	.97
36-weeks	.91	.02	<.001	.87	.95
6-weeks postpartum	.80	.05	<.001	.71	.90
26-weeks postpartum	.76	.05	<.001	.65	.86
PHQ-2 Positive Yes/No
Probable major depression
Baseline	.84	.04	.002	.76	.92
36-weeks	.79	.06	.026	.68	.90
6-weeks postpartum	.86	.03	<.001	.80	.91
26-weeks postpartum	.81	.05	<.001	.72	.91
At least probable minor depression
Baseline	.84	.03	<.001	.78	.91
36-weeks	.80	.04	<.001	.72	.87
6-weeks postpartum	.78	.04	<.001	.70	.87
26-weeks postpartum	.78	.04	<.001	.69	.86

The EPDS was used as the reference standard
AUC Area under the curve; Interpreted as AUC = .60–.70 = poor, .70–.80 = fair, .80–0.90 = good, .90–1.0 = excellent
At least probable minor depression in pregnancy: pregnancy = ≥ 13 and postpartum = ≥ 10
Probable major depression: pregnancy = ≥ 15 and postpartum = ≥ 13

ISSN: 1471-2393