Is the culturally adapted 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (aPHQ-9) suitable for use as a screening tool to identify depression in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people attending primary care?

Five Aboriginal language groups of Central Australian Aboriginal men independently selected the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression screening tool from a selection of depression screening tools, as the most appropriate to adapt for use with Indigenous people. The PHQ-9 was adapted to the local needs of all five language groups over 12-months and consensus regarding wording was reached. The PHQ-9 wording was modified, using simplified English, to make the ‘adapted PHQ-9’ (aPHQ-9) culturally meaningful and give it face validity. In qualitative interviews with the same participants, seven critical domains of depressive experience within Indigenous men were identified that were not covered in existing depression case-finding measures: anger, weakened spirit, homesickness, irritability, excessive worry, rumination, and drug/alcohol use. Following consent participants will complete two separate interviews up to one week apart. Interview 1: the adapted PHQ-9 and additional 7 questions will be administered (face to face) by a trained member of the primary health care service’s staff followed by demographic questions. (Up to 20 minutes) Interview 2: MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview 6.0.0. will be administered (face to face) by a trained member of the primary health care service’s staff or by a centralised interviewer (over the telephone) (Up to 20 minutes)