Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Dec;29(12):1679-86.
doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-2951-5. Epub 2014 Aug 5.

Reliability and validity of the Haitian Creole PHQ-9

Linda G Marc  1 , Whitney R Henderson, Astrid Desrosiers, Marcia A Testa, Samuel E Jean, Eniko Edit Akom
Affiliations

Reliability and validity of the Haitian Creole PHQ-9

Linda G Marc et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2014 Dec.

Abstract

Background: There is limited information on depression in Haitians and this is partly attributable to the absence of culturally and linguistically adapted measures for depression.

Objective: To perform a psychometric evaluation of the Haitian-Creole version of the PHQ-9 administered to men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Republic of Haiti.

Design: This study uses a cross-sectional design and data are from the Integrated Behavioral and Biological HIV Survey (IBBS) for MSM in Haiti.

Participants: Inclusion criteria required that participants be male, ≥ 18 years, report sexual relations with a male partner in the last 12 months, and lived in Haiti during the past 3 months. Respondent Driven Sampling was used for participant recruitment.

Main measures: A structured questionnaire was verbally administered in Haitian-Creole capturing information on sociodemographics, sexual behaviors, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status and depressive symptomatology using the PHQ-9. Psychometric analyses of the translated PHQ-9 assessed unidimensionality, factor structure, reliability, construct validity, and differential item functioning (DIF) across subgroups (age, educational level, sexual orientation and HIV status).

Key results: In a study population of 1,028 MSM, the Haitian-Creole version of the PHQ-9 is unidimensional, has moderately high internal consistency reliability (α = 0.78), and shows evidence of construct validity where HIV-positive subjects have greater depression (p = 0.002). There is no evidence of DIF across age, education, sexual orientation or HIV status. HIV-positive MSM are twice as likely to screen positive for moderately severe and severe depressive symptoms compared to their HIV-negative counterparts.

Conclusions: There is strong evidence for the psychometric adequacy of the translated PHQ-9 screening tool as a measure of depression with MSM in Haiti. Future research is necessary to examine the predictive validity of depression for subsequent health behaviors or clinical outcomes among Haitian MSM.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scree Plot of Eigenvalues after Factor Analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Malebranche R, Arnoux E, Guerin JM, Pierre GD, Laroche AC, Pean-Guichard C, et al. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with severe gastrointestinal manifestations in Haiti. Lancet. 1983;2(8355):873–8. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(83)90868-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Haiti, Programme National de Lutte contre le SIDA (PNLS): Plan Strategique National Multisectoriel (2008–2012), in Date Accessed: September 26, 2012http://www.aidstar-one.com/sites/default/files/prevention/resources/nati..., Gourvernement de la Republique d'Haiti: Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
    1. Marc LG, Patel-Larson A, Hall HI, Hughes D, Alegria M, Jeanty G, et al. HIV among Haitian-born persons in the United States, 1985–2007. AIDS. 2010;24(13):2089–2097. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0b013e32833bedff. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. PSI Haiti, Understanding the needs of Haitian Men who have Sex with Men. Qualitative study. (unpublished). Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2011, PSI Haiti.
    1. Mills TC, Paul J, Stall R, Pollack L, Canchola J, Chang Y, et al. Distress and depression in men who have sex with men: the urban men's health study. Am J Psychiatr. 2004;161(2):278–285. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.2.278. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types