Screening for psychological distress in neurosurgical brain tumor patients using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2

Objective Psychological distress is highly prevalent but often undiagnosed in brain tumor patients. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Patient Health Questionnaire‐2 (PHQ‐2) for screening of distressed neurosurgical brain tumor patients. Methods A total of 226 (69% women; mean age 55.6 ± 14.7 years) consecutive patients on admission for elective brain tumor surgery were evaluated for psychological distress using the PHQ‐2, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS; n = 206), and the Beck Depression Inventory‐II (BDI‐II; n = 196). At discharge, the patients were reevaluated using the PHQ‐2 and HADS. Results On admission, 43% and 18% of patients had moderate‐severe psychological distress according to the HADS (HADS depression or anxiety score ≥11) and BDI‐II (score ≥20), respectively. At discharge, there was a significant decrease in psychological distress among patients according to the PHQ‐2 (p = 0.04) and HADS (p