Rapid Screening of Psychological Well-Being of Patients with Chronic Illness: Reliability and Validity Test on WHO-5 and PHQ-9 Scales

This study intended to test the reliability and validity of two simple psychological screening scales, the World Health Organization Well-being Index (WHO-5) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), in patients with chronic illness in Taiwan and to understand the psychological well-being of patients with chronic illness (e.g., metabolic syndrome) in Taiwan and the incidences of psychological problems that follow. The research design of this study was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample comprised 310 patients with metabolic syndrome (MS), aged 20 years or more, from the outpatient clinic of a municipal hospital in Taiwan. This study used questionnaires to collect basic information, including physiological indices, WHO-5 and PHQ-9 that were used. “Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HADS),” and “World Health Organization Quality of Life—Short-form Version for Taiwan (WHOQOL)”. Results are as follows: (1) compared to PHQ-9, the reliability and validity of WHO-5 are better for screening the psychological well-being of patients with chronic illness. (2) The features of WHO-5 are high sensitivity, briefness, and ease-of-use. The incidence of depression in patients with metabolic syndrome was approximately 1.0–6.5%, which is significantly lower than that of western countries.