The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of a translated instrument to screen for depressive disorders among Korean Americans (KAs). The Patient Health Questionnaire– (PHQ-9) was selected and translated into Korean (PHQ-9K). Two research questions were formulated: What is the prevalence of depression as determined by using the PHQ-9K among KAs attending a community-based health fair? Is this Korean-translated version of the PHQ-9K tool useful in screening for depression in KAs? Data were collected at an annual KA Community Medical Health Fair and analyzed following the guidelines for interpreting the PHQ-9. The results demonstrated that 15.4% of sample participants might need treatment for depression depending on the duration of symptoms, severity, and functional impairment, and 7.5% of participants definitely required treatment for depressive symptoms. The usefulness of the PHQ-9K to screen for depressive disorders in KAs at a primary care setting was confirmed.
Allender, A.A. , & Spradley, B.W. (2005). Community health nursing: Promoting and protecting the public health. New York: Lippincott .
2.
Caplan, G. (1964). Principles of preventive psychiatry. New York: Basic Books .
3.
Caplan, G. & Caplan, R. (1993). Mental health consultation and collaboration. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass .
4.
Choi, G. (1997). Acculturation stress, social support, and depression in Korean American families: Cross-cultural practice with couples and families . New York: Haworth .
5.
Donnelly, P.J. (1992). The impact of culture on psychotherapy: Korean clients' expectations in psychotherapy . Journal of New York State Nurses Association,23(2), 12-15 .
6.
Donnelly, P.J. (2001). Korean American family experiences of caregiving for their mentally ill adult children. Journal of TransculturalNursing, 12(4), 292-301 .
7.
Donnelly, P.L. (2007). The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9K) to screen for depressive disorders among immigrant Korean American elderly. Manuscript submitted for publication.
8.
Fabrega, H., Jr. (2001). Mental health and illness in traditional India and China . Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(3), 555-567 .
9.
Giger, J. , & Davidhizer, R. (2004). Transcultural nursing and nursing assessment and intervention. Boston: C. V. Mosby .
10.
Hyun, K.J. (2001). Is an Independent self a requisite for Asian immigrants' psychological will-being in the US? Psychosocial aspects of Korean American experience. New York: Haworth .
11.
Kim, M.T. (2002). Measuring depression in Korean Americans: Development of the Kim Depression Scale for Korean Americans. Journal of TransculturalNursing, 13(2), 109-117 .
12.
Kirmayer, L.J. , & Groleau, D. (2001). Affective disorders in cultural context . Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(3), 465-478 .
13.
Kleinman, A. (1982). Neurasthenia and depression: A study of somatization and culture in China. Culture , Medicine and Psychiatry, 6, 117-190 .
14.
Kroenke, K. , Spitzer, R.L. , & Williams, J.B. (2001). The PHQ-9 validity of a brief depression severity measure . Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16, 606-614 .
15.
Lee, E. , & Farren, C.J. (2004). Depression among Korean, Korean American, and Caucasian American caregivers. Journal of TransculturalNursing , 15(1), 18-25 .
16.
McArthur, J.D. , & McArthur, C.T. (2002). MacArthur initiative depression toolkit. Retrieved June 10, 2002, from www.depression-primarycare.org/apla.html
17.
McArthur, J.D. , & McArthur, C.T. (2004). Depression management tool kit. Retrieved December 3, 2005, from www.depression-primarycare.org.
18.
National Institute of Mental Health. (2000 ). Depression (NIMH Publ. No. 00-3561). Bethesda, MD: Author .
19.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (2006). Detecting and Treating Depression in Adults,25(1), 1-8 .
20.
Oh, Y.J. , Koeske, G.F. , & Sales, E. (2002). Acculturation, stress, and depressive symptoms among Korean Immigrants in the United States . Journal of Social Psychology, 142(4), 511-525 .
21.
Pang, K.U. (1998). Cause of dysphoric experiences among elderly Korean immigrants . Clinical Gerontologist, 19(4), 17-33 .
22.
President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. (2003). Achieving the promise: Transforming mental health care in America. Final report. Rockville, MD: Author .
23.
PsyCME. (2004). Major depression: New perspectives on an old illness. Durham, NC: Duke University Medical Center .
24.
Radloff, L.S. (1997). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population . Applied Psychological Measure,1, 385-394 .
25.
Shin, K.R. (1994). Psychosocial prediction of depressive symptoms in Korean-American women in New York City . Women and Health , 21, 73-82 .
26.
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 14. (2005 ). SPSS, 14.0 brief guide. Hillsdale, NJ : Prentice Hall .
27.
Sue, D.W. (1994). Asian-American mental health and help-seeking behavior: Comment on Solberg et al. (1994), Tata and Leong (1994), and Lin (1994) . Journal of Counseling Psychology, 41(3), 292-295 .
28.
Sung, K. (2005, October). The epidemic of Korean suicide . Paper presented at the Asian American Research Conference, New York.
29.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2000). Healthy people 2010: National health promotion and disease prevention objectives. Washington, DC: Author .
30.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2001). Mental health: A report of the surgeon general. Rockville, MD: Author .
31.
Videbeck, S. (2006). Psychiatric mental health nursing. New York: Lippincott .
32.
Weissman, M.M. , Bland, R.C. , & Canino, G.I. (1996). Cross-national epidemiology of major depression and bipolar disorder . Journal of the American Medical Association , 276, 293-299 .
