This study aimed to investigate the validity, reliability, and optimal cut-off points for the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Well-being Index (WHO-5) to screen mild depression among 400 Iranian students who completed these tools and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13). Further, a psychiatrist diagnosed the depression by using the “Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” The validity and internal consistency of tools assessed and the accuracy were computed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC). The internal consistency values of PHQ-2, PHQ-9, and WHO-5 were .73, .88, and .94, respectively. The PHQ-2 (.53), PHQ-9 (.60), and WHO-5 (.54) were significantly associated with the BDI. The PHQ-2, PHQ-9, and WHO-5 had optimal cut-off points of 2, 5, and 9 with an AUC of .809, .851, and .823, respectively. Based on these findings, it is recommended to use the PHQ-9 for mild depression screening among medical university students in Iran because of its high sensitivity and specificity.

本研究旨在调查患者健康问卷 2 (PHQ-2)、患者健康问卷 9 (PHQ-9) 和幸福指数 (WHO-5) 的有效性、可靠性和最佳截止点在完成这些工具和贝克抑郁量表 (BDI-13) 的 400 名伊朗学生中筛查轻度抑郁症。此外，一位精神科医生使用“精神疾病诊断和统计手册的结构化临床访谈”诊断出抑郁症。评估工具的有效性和内部一致性以及使用接收器操作特征（ROC）和曲线下面积（AUC）计算准确性。PHQ-2、PHQ-9 和 WHO-5 的内部一致性值分别为 0.73、0.88 和 0.94。PHQ-2 (.53)、PHQ-9 (.60) 和 WHO-5 (.54) 与 BDI 显着相关。PHQ-2、PHQ-9、和 WHO-5 的最佳截止点分别为 2、5 和 9，AUC 分别为 0.809、0.851 和 0.823。基于这些发现，推荐使用 PHQ-9 对伊朗医科大学生进行轻度抑郁症筛查，因为它具有较高的敏感性和特异性。