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Confusing Questionnaires Lead to Misleading Responses From Patients
The phrase 'bothered by' in the Patient Health Questionnaire caused only 38% of 850 participants to answer symptom questions consistently, raising concerns about diagnostic accuracy.
- On Dec. 22, 2025, HealthDay reported the Patient Health Questionnaire is widely used, but researchers found its `bothered by` phrasing causes inconsistent patient responses.
- Clinicians and patients often note that Zachary Cohen, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, said he became concerned earlier this month when patients asked for guidance on clinic questionnaires.
- In the experiment, roughly 850 people completed a PHQ and faced an oversleeping hypothetical, while researchers found the nine-question PHQ still confused respondents.
- Inconsistent answers can cause researchers to misclassify medication effects from GLP-1 weight-loss drugs like Ozempic as depressive symptoms, skewing diagnosis and treatment.
- Researchers urged rewording and testing question wording to clarify the PHQ, while the University of Arizona news release advised patients confused by forms to ask clinic staff for help and emphasized the importance of the `bothered by` phrasing.
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20 Articles
20 Articles
InsideNoVA.com+17 Reposted by 17 other sources
Doctors' Questionnaires Confusing To Patients, Create Misleading Responses
Key Takeaways
Coverage Details
Total News Sources20
Leaning Left3Leaning Right3Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 25%
C 50%
R 25%
Factuality
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