Physical discomfort (PHQ-15)
The burden of different physical symptoms. Answer the app’s questionnaire and see your result right away.
Source · Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-15: validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms. Psychosom Med. 2002;64(2):258–266. Distributed by Pfizer.
How much weight physical symptoms put on your days
The PHQ-15 is a 15-item scale published by Kroenke, Spitzer and Williams in 2002 to measure the severity of physical symptoms, as part of the Patient Health Questionnaire family. It covers stomach pain, back pain, pain in the arms, legs or joints, headaches, chest pain, dizziness, feeling faint, a pounding or racing heart, shortness of breath, bowel and digestive problems, tiredness and trouble sleeping, among others. You rate how much each symptom has bothered you over the past four weeks on three levels.
Reading your results
The total ranges from 0 to 30. The result screen shows 0–4 as minimal, 5–9 as mild, 10–14 as moderate and 15 or more as severe. The score reflects how much the symptoms bother you, not what causes them. If your score is high, it is worth having physical causes checked first, and you can also look at whether stress or anxiety shows up in your body. A diagnosis is made in a clinical conversation; if symptoms last a long time or have recently worsened, see a clinician.
A question to reflect on
Pick one symptom you rated as bothering you a lot, and for one week write one line a day about when it was worse and when it eased. Seeing whether it moves with sleep, meals, schedule or worries makes it much easier to describe in a clinic or counseling session.
Frequently asked questions
- How many questions are in Physical discomfort (PHQ-15), and how long does it take?
- There are 15 questions, and it usually takes about 3 minutes. For each question you choose one of 3 answers, from “Not bothered at all” to “Bothered a lot”. There are no right or wrong answers.
- Does a high score mean nothing is physically wrong?
- No. The PHQ-15 shows how much symptoms bother you, not where they come from. Have physical causes checked by a clinician, and alongside that, look at how stress and mood may be affecting the symptoms.
- What if a symptom doesn’t apply to me?
- Choose ‘Not bothered at all’ for any symptom that doesn’t apply, such as the menstrual item. It then adds nothing to your score.
- Why four weeks?
- Physical symptoms tend to rise and fall from day to day. Looking at about a month makes it easier to tell a few bad days apart from discomfort that keeps going.
- Do I need to sign in? Are my answers saved?
- You can see your results right away without signing in. Your answers are used only for scoring and are not stored on our servers.
- Can I bring these results into a counseling session?
- Use the analysis button at the bottom of the result screen to have a short conversation with Maeumi without signing in. After the conversation, you can continue in the app. The web conversation does not transfer automatically to the app.
- Can I share my results with a friend?
- Yes. Use Share at the top right of the result screen to send a friend the check itself, or share your result as a link or story image. A result link carries your scores inside the address only; it does not include your name or account, and nothing is saved on our side.
Kroenke et al. (2002) · PHQ-15 development study · PHQ screeners