Table of Contents

Component Description

The Depression Screener (DPQ) questions are from the Patient Health Questionnaire, a version of the Prime-MD diagnostic instrument. They are a self-reported assessment of the past 2 weeks, based on nine DSM-IV signs and symptoms from depression. The nine symptom questions are scored from “0” (not at all) to “3” (nearly every day). Depression severity can be defined by several cut points from the total score that ranges from 0-27 (Kroenke 2001). A final follow-up question assesses the overall impairment of the depressive symptoms.

Eligible Sample

Mobile Examination Center (MEC) participants 12 years and older were eligible. No proxies were permitted to answer these questions. Only data from participants aged 18 years and older are included in this data file.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

These questions were asked  by trained interviewers in Spanish or English using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) system during the MEC private interview.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire.

Approximately 5% of the interviews were recorded and reviewed for quality control purposes.

Data Processing and Editing

Edits were made to ensure the completeness, consistency and analytic usefulness of the data.

Analytic Notes

Depression and depression severity have been defined using various methods in the scientific literature. Researchers may want to pay special attention to records with item non-response (questions that have missing, “don’t know” or “refusal” responses) in deriving a score or severity measure.

MEC exam sample weights should be used for the analyses.

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues. Both of these are available on the NHANES website.

A special use DPQ data file, for participants 12-17 years, is available through the NCHS Research Data Center (RDC).

References

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS

DPQ001 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
DPQ001
English Instructions:
BOX 1. CHECK ITEM DPQ001: IF INTERVIEW DONE ONLY WITH SURVEY PARTICIPANT (CODED '1' IN RIQ005), CONTINUE. OTHERWISE, GO TO NEXT SECTION.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS

DPQ010 - Little interest in doing things

Variable Name:
DPQ010
SAS Label:
Little interest in doing things
English Text:
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems: little interest or pleasure in doing things? Would you say...
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4094 4094
1 Several days 939 5033
2 More than half the days 239 5272
3 Nearly every day 163 5435
7 Refused 0 5435
9 Don't know 14 5449
. Missing 546 5995

DPQ020 - Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless

Variable Name:
DPQ020
SAS Label:
Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling down, depressed, or hopeless?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4039 4039
1 Several days 970 5009
2 More than half the days 222 5231
3 Nearly every day 213 5444
7 Refused 0 5444
9 Don't know 4 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ030 - Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much

Variable Name:
DPQ030
SAS Label:
Trouble sleeping or sleeping too much
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 3230 3230
1 Several days 1279 4509
2 More than half the days 409 4918
3 Nearly every day 526 5444
7 Refused 0 5444
9 Don't know 4 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ040 - Feeling tired or having little energy

Variable Name:
DPQ040
SAS Label:
Feeling tired or having little energy
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling tired or having little energy?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 2702 2702
1 Several days 1791 4493
2 More than half the days 425 4918
3 Nearly every day 525 5443
7 Refused 0 5443
9 Don't know 5 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ050 - Poor appetite or overeating

Variable Name:
DPQ050
SAS Label:
Poor appetite or overeating
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] poor appetite or overeating?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4135 4135
1 Several days 800 4935
2 More than half the days 248 5183
3 Nearly every day 262 5445
7 Refused 0 5445
9 Don't know 3 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ060 - Feeling bad about yourself

Variable Name:
DPQ060
SAS Label:
Feeling bad about yourself
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] feeling bad about yourself - or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4431 4431
1 Several days 668 5099
2 More than half the days 181 5280
3 Nearly every day 156 5436
7 Refused 0 5436
9 Don't know 12 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ070 - Trouble concentrating on things

Variable Name:
DPQ070
SAS Label:
Trouble concentrating on things
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching TV?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4489 4489
1 Several days 639 5128
2 More than half the days 161 5289
3 Nearly every day 153 5442
7 Refused 0 5442
9 Don't know 6 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ080 - Moving or speaking slowly or too fast

Variable Name:
DPQ080
SAS Label:
Moving or speaking slowly or too fast
English Text:
[Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems:] moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed? Or the opposite - being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual?
English Instructions:
HANDCARD DPQ1
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 4826 4826
1 Several days 400 5226
2 More than half the days 118 5344
3 Nearly every day 97 5441
7 Refused 0 5441
9 Don't know 7 5448
. Missing 547 5995

DPQ090 - Thought you would be better off dead

Variable Name:
DPQ090
SAS Label:
Thought you would be better off dead
English Text:
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems: Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way?
English Instructions:
INTERVIEWER INSTRUCTION: IF DPQ.090 CODED 1, 2, OR 3 PLEASE COMPLETE MENTAL HEALTH OBSERVATION FOR PHYSICIAN REVIEW AT CONCLUSION OF INTERVIEW.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all 5191 5191
1 Several days 177 5368
2 More than half the days 33 5401
3 Nearly every day 40 5441
7 Refused 0 5441
9 Don't know 6 5447
. Missing 548 5995

DPQ095 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
DPQ095
English Instructions:
BOX 2. CHECK ITEM DPQ095: IF RESPONSE TO ANY OF QUESTIONS DPQ010 - DPQ090 = 1, 2, OR 3, GO TO DPQ100. OTHERWISE, GO TO NEXT SECTION.
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS

DPQ100 - Difficulty these problems have caused

Variable Name:
DPQ100
SAS Label:
Difficulty these problems have caused
English Text:
How difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home, or get along with people?
Target:
Both males and females 18 YEARS - 150 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 Not at all difficult 2658 2658
1 Somewhat difficult 854 3512
2 Very difficult 128 3640
3 Extremely difficult 53 3693
7 Refused 0 3693
9 Don't know 10 3703
. Missing 2292 5995