Free tool
PHQ-9 & GAD-7 calculator
Score the PHQ-9 (depression) and GAD-7 (anxiety) screens in the browser, see the published severity band as you answer, and print a dated worksheet. Published severity bands for screening, not a diagnosis. Responses stay on this device.
PHQ-9 / GAD-7 screening worksheet (____________)
For each item, tap the number that best describes how often the patient has been bothered over the past two weeks: 0 = Not at all · 1 = Several days · 2 = More than half the days · 3 = Nearly every day.
PHQ-9 · Patient Health Questionnaire (Depression)
1.Little interest or pleasure in doing things
2.Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
3.Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
4.Feeling tired or having little energy
5.Poor appetite or overeating
6.Feeling bad about yourself — or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down
7.Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television
8.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
9.Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way
PHQ-9 total
—/ 27
Answer all items to see severity
GAD-7 · Generalised Anxiety Disorder (Anxiety)
1.Feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge
2.Not being able to stop or control worrying
3.Worrying too much about different things
4.Trouble relaxing
5.Being so restless that it is hard to sit still
6.Becoming easily annoyed or irritable
7.Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen
GAD-7 total
—/ 21
Answer all items to see severity
Published severity bands for screening. The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 measure symptom severity over the past two weeks; a score indicates a severity band, not a clinical diagnosis. Scores support, not replace, clinical assessment. Always interpret results in the context of a full clinical evaluation. A non-zero answer on PHQ-9 item 9 (self-harm) calls for a direct risk assessment with the patient, independent of the total score.
Privacy: Runs locally in your browser. Responses stay on this device.
Scoring and cut-points reproduced from: Kroenke, Spitzer & Williams. The PHQ-9, J Gen Intern Med 2001; Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams & Lowe: The GAD-7, Arch Intern Med 2006.
How the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are scored
Both questionnaires ask how often, over the last two weeks, a list of symptoms has bothered the patient, each answered 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day). The PHQ-9's nine items sum to 0–27 and the GAD-7's seven items sum to 0–21. Each total maps to a published severity band; the cut-points come from the original validation papers, not from us.
PHQ-9 item 9 is treated separately. It screens for thoughts of self-harm, and any non-zero answer calls for a direct risk assessment regardless of the overall score, so the calculator flags it rather than folding it into a band.
Many clinics still hand-score these on paper. If you run a mental-health practice, our psychiatry workflow page explains how Avinya Plus's template builder and formula engine let you build a PHQ-9 or GAD-7 form, total it automatically, and colour-band the severity inside the record. Avinya Plus ships no pre-built mental-health instrument. You configure it; the arithmetic and banding are the engine's.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the PHQ-9 scored?
- Each of the nine items is scored 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day) for the last two weeks, and the items are summed to a 0–27 total. The published severity bands are 0–4 minimal, 5–9 mild, 10–14 moderate, 15–19 moderately severe, and 20–27 severe.
- How is the GAD-7 scored?
- Each of the seven items is scored 0 to 3 over the last two weeks and summed to a 0–21 total. The published bands are 0–4 minimal, 5–9 mild, 10–14 moderate, and 15–21 severe anxiety.
- What does PHQ-9 item 9 mean?
- Item 9 asks about thoughts of being better off dead or of self-harm. Any answer above zero warrants a direct, in-person risk assessment straight away, independent of the total score. The calculator highlights this for you.
- Is a PHQ-9 or GAD-7 score a diagnosis?
- No. Both are validated screening aids, not diagnostic instruments. A score indicates a level of symptom severity to be interpreted alongside a full clinical assessment; it does not by itself establish a diagnosis of depression or generalised anxiety disorder.
- Do PHQ-9 or GAD-7 answers leave my browser?
- No. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 answers stay in this tab; nothing is uploaded. Print if you want a paper worksheet or PDF.
Sources
- Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9: Validity of a Brief Depression Severity Measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16(9):606–613. PMID 11556941.
- Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder: The GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1092–1097. PMID 16717171.
Both the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are public domain. Pfizer Inc. holds copyright and has granted permanent, irrevocable, zero-cost, permission-free use including reproduction and distribution, confirmed in the Pfizer press release of 21 July 2010 and at phqscreeners.com. Severity cut-points are reproduced verbatim from the primary validation papers cited above and are screening references, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for clinical judgement.
Build the screen into the record, not the printer.
In Avinya Plus you can build a PHQ-9 or GAD-7 form in the template builder, let the formula engine total it, and band the severity with formatting rules, kept on the consultation note and off reception's screen. See it configured on a quick demo.