Somatic symptom snapshot
{{ totalScore }}/30
{{ severityName }} band | {{ lensLabel }}
{{ badge.label }}

Brief 15-item somatic symptom check-in for the last 4 weeks.

  • Choose how much each symptom bothered you.
  • The finished report keeps the standard PHQ-15 cut points and top symptom drivers in view.
{{ progressPercent }}%
{{ uxProgressLabel }}
  • {{ prompt.id }}. {{ prompt.text }}
{{ card.label }}
{{ card.value }}
{{ card.note }}
Share result

Share this result page with someone you trust to review your answers and result.

Score ladder
Somatic pattern map
Somatic pattern brief

{{ briefLead }}

  • {{ point }}

{{ resultDisclaimer }}

Score lane and cue table
Score Band Common cue Status Copy
{{ band.rangeLabel }} {{ band.label }} {{ band.cueLabel }} {{ band.statusText }}
Body-system grouping

Top cluster: {{ dominantSystemLabel }}. These clusters help organize review conversations; they are not official PHQ-15 subscales.

Body-system cluster Load Lane Review cue Copy
{{ row.label }} {{ row.raw }}/{{ row.max }} | {{ row.percent }}% {{ row.lane }} {{ row.note }}
Highest-rated symptom drivers

{{ highIntensityCount ? `${highIntensityCount} item${highIntensityCount === 1 ? '' : 's'} at 2/2` : 'No 2/2 items' }}

Symptom Response Score Prompt Copy
{{ row.short }} {{ row.answer }} | {{ row.systemLabel }} {{ row.score }}/2 {{ row.text }}

No item scored above "Not bothered at all," so no symptom driver stands out in this run.

Follow-up cues
  1. {{ point }}
Answer review
# Item Response Score Interpretation Copy
{{ row.id }} {{ row.text }} {{ row.answer }} {{ row.scoreText }} {{ row.interpretation }}
No response rows are available
Complete the PHQ-15 before exporting the response ledger.
Tags: Diagnostics, Psychometrics
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) Assessment Score a PHQ-9 depression screener, see the 0 to 27 severity band, and review Item 9, function impact, symptom drivers, and follow-up cues.
SAS-Style Anxiety Proxy Assessment Check recent anxiety load with a disclosed SAS-style proxy, then review a 25-to-100 index, lead domains, cutoff cues, and follow-up notes.
EQ-5D-5L Health Status Survey Record today's EQ-5D-5L health state, compare EQ VAS with US 2019 and England 2018 utilities, and spot the dimensions driving burden.
Insomnia Severity Index Assessment Score recent insomnia burden with the seven-item ISI, published severity bands, symptom drivers, chart views, and follow-up cues.
Customize
Advanced
:

Physical symptoms are often the first reason someone seeks care, but a list of symptoms can be hard to interpret from memory. Pain, stomach trouble, dizziness, palpitations, breathlessness, fatigue, sleep trouble, and reproductive or sexual-health symptoms may appear alone, cluster together, change over time, or overlap with known medical conditions. A structured symptom scale gives that broad picture a consistent frame.

The Patient Health Questionnaire-15, usually shortened to PHQ-15, is a 15-item self-report measure of somatic symptom severity. "Somatic" means body-related. The scale asks how much common physical symptoms have bothered the person over a recent recall window, then turns the answers into a total score from 0 to 30.

That total is useful because symptom burden is not just a count of problems. One person may have a single severe symptom that needs prompt medical attention. Another may have several lower-intensity symptoms across different body systems that add up to a higher overall burden. The score helps summarize intensity and spread, while the individual items show which symptoms are driving the result.

Symptom burden
The combined weight of reported physical symptoms, including how many symptoms are present and how strongly they are rated.
Severity band
A score range used to describe the total as minimal, low, medium, or high for PHQ-15 review.
Driver item
A symptom with one of the highest item scores, useful for deciding what to discuss first.
PHQ-15 score bands from 0 to 30 A horizontal 0 to 30 score scale with cut points at 5, 10, and 15. PHQ-15 symptom burden scale Fifteen item scores build one total. Cut points at 5, 10, and 15 guide follow-up. Minimal Low Medium High 0 5 10 15 30 Read the total with the highest-scored symptoms and the pattern across body systems.

PHQ-15 results are screening information, not a diagnosis and not a medical triage system. A high score does not prove that symptoms are psychological, and a low score does not make a new or severe symptom safe to ignore. The total is a starting point for clearer review, especially when symptoms persist, interfere with daily life, or need comparison with an earlier complete PHQ-15.

Urgent symptoms should be handled as urgent symptoms first. New chest pain, fainting, severe shortness of breath, neurological changes, bleeding, severe pain, or any symptom that feels dangerous should not wait for questionnaire interpretation.

How to Use This Tool:

Answer the 15 prompts using one consistent last-4-weeks frame. The response choices are intentionally simple so the finished score stays comparable across items.

  1. Select Begin Assessment and work through each symptom prompt.
  2. Choose Not bothered at all, Bothered a little, or Bothered a lot. The choices score 0, 1, and 2 points.
  3. For menstrual or sexual-health items that are not relevant, choose Not bothered at all so the total remains on the 0 to 30 PHQ-15 scale.
  4. Use the prompt navigator and progress indicator to find any unanswered item. The result appears only after all 15 items are complete.
  5. If you have a prior complete PHQ-15 total, use it only as a comparison with another full 15-item score from a similar recall window.
  6. Review the Total score, Band, Review cue, Top cluster, and 2/2 items together before copying or sharing the result.

The copied rows, share link, chart downloads, and answer review can help you keep the total and symptom pattern together for a follow-up conversation. Treat them as sensitive health information.

Interpreting Results:

The PHQ-15 total reflects recent somatic symptom burden. Higher scores can come from more symptoms, stronger ratings, or both. The number does not identify the medical cause of a symptom, rule out physical illness, confirm somatic symptom disorder, or separate medical, medication, stress, mood, sleep, and lifestyle contributors.

  • 0 to 4, Minimal: Below the low cut point. Persistent, new, or worrying single symptoms still deserve normal medical judgment.
  • 5 to 9, Low: Noticeable symptom burden below the common 10-point review cue.
  • 10 to 14, Medium: At or above the 10-point cue often used to flag clinically meaningful symptom burden.
  • 15 to 30, High: Substantial burden on the PHQ-15 scale and a strong reason for structured follow-up.

Do not stop at the band label. A total of 10 made mostly from headaches, back pain, and low energy suggests a different discussion than a total of 10 led by chest pain, dizziness, palpitations, or breathlessness. The highest-rated symptom drivers show which items contributed most to the total.

The body-system grouping is a practical review aid. It can show whether the strongest load sits in pain, gastrointestinal, cardiopulmonary and autonomic, fatigue and sleep, or reproductive and sexual-health symptoms. Those groups are not official PHQ-15 subscales, so they should guide conversation rather than replace the total score.

Prior-score change is easiest to trust when both scores are complete PHQ-15 results and the same person used the same recall window. A lower score can show improvement in burden while still leaving important symptoms to review.

Technical Details:

The PHQ-15 score is an additive severity score. Each item contributes an integer from 0 to 2, and every item has equal weight in the total. Because the scale is short and ordinal, a one-point difference is best read as a small change in reported burden, not as a precise medical unit.

The standard cut points at 5, 10, and 15 divide the total into low, medium, and high somatic symptom severity, with scores below 5 treated here as minimal. The 10-point cut point is commonly used as a review cue, while 15 and above marks the highest burden band on this 0 to 30 scale.

Formula Core

T = ∑ i=1 15 qi Δ = current PHQ-15 total - prior PHQ-15 total

In the formula, T is the PHQ-15 total and each q is one item score from 0 to 2. The change value, Δ, appears only when a prior total is available. For example, five symptoms scored 2, four symptoms scored 1, and six symptoms scored 0 produce 14 out of 30, which falls in the Medium band.

Scoring part Values used Maximum Interpretation boundary
Item score Not bothered at all = 0, Bothered a little = 1, Bothered a lot = 2 2 Each symptom contributes the same maximum number of points.
Total score Sum of all 15 item scores 30 Measures reported burden, not cause, diagnosis, or urgency.
Prior change Current total minus prior total 30 Meaningful only when both totals are complete and comparable.
Score range Band Rule Technical read
0 to 4 Minimal T < 5 Below the first PHQ-15 cut point.
5 to 9 Low 5 <= T < 10 At or above the low cut point and below the 10-point review cue.
10 to 14 Medium 10 <= T < 15 At or above the common 10-point cue and below the high cut point.
15 to 30 High T >= 15 At or above the highest PHQ-15 cut point.

Cluster percentages use the same item scores but divide each group by its own maximum. A three-item group can reach 6 points, a two-item group can reach 4 points, and the five-item cardiopulmonary and autonomic group can reach 10 points. This makes the group "lane" a local pattern summary rather than an official scale score.

Grouping Items included Maximum Lane rule
Musculoskeletal & pain Back pain, limb or joint pain, headaches 6 0% quiet, 1% to 33% background, 34% to 66% notable, 67%+ concentrated
Gastrointestinal Stomach pain, bowel changes, nausea or indigestion 6 Same percent lanes as other groups
Cardiopulmonary & autonomic Chest pain, dizziness, fainting, heart pounding, shortness of breath 10 Same percent lanes as other groups
Fatigue & sleep Low energy, trouble sleeping 4 Same percent lanes as other groups
Reproductive & sexual health Menstrual concerns, pain or problems during sexual intercourse 4 Same percent lanes as other groups

Limitations, Privacy, and Responsible Use:

The PHQ-15 is an informational screener. It cannot decide whether symptoms are medically explained, stress-related, medication-related, linked to another condition, or part of a diagnosable mental health condition. Clinical interpretation depends on history, examination when needed, duration, impairment, current risks, and other findings.

  • Use the same last-4-weeks recall frame for repeat comparisons.
  • Do not use the band label to dismiss new, severe, worsening, or frightening symptoms.
  • Routine scoring runs in the browser, but copied rows, downloaded files, screenshots, and shared result links can contain sensitive symptom answers.
  • Share results only with people you trust and remove exported files from shared devices when they are no longer needed.

Worked Examples:

Medium total with several strong pain and fatigue items

Back pain, limb or joint pain, headaches, low energy, and trouble sleeping are each marked Bothered a lot. Four other symptoms are marked Bothered a little. The total is 14 out of 30, which is Medium, and the highest drivers make pain and fatigue the natural starting point for review.

Low total with one symptom that still matters

A score of 5 sits in the Low band. If the strongest item is chest pain, fainting, or shortness of breath, the low band should not be used as reassurance by itself. The item-level review shows that the total is low while the specific symptom may still need prompt medical judgment.

Prior comparison changes the context

A prior complete PHQ-15 total of 18 compared with a current total of 12 shows a 6-point drop. That suggests improvement in reported burden, but the current score remains Medium and the same driver items may still deserve follow-up.

A missing result usually means an unanswered item

If the result has not appeared, at least one of the 15 prompts is incomplete. Use the navigator to find the unanswered item, finish the response, and then review the total, band, score ladder, symptom drivers, and answer review together.

FAQ:

Does the PHQ-15 diagnose somatic symptom disorder?

No. The PHQ-15 summarizes reported physical symptom burden. Diagnosis requires qualified clinical assessment and cannot be made from the total score alone.

What does a score of 10 or more mean?

A total of 10 or more reaches the Medium or High PHQ-15 range. It is a useful cue for fuller review, but it does not identify the cause of the symptoms.

Are the body-system groups official PHQ-15 subscales?

No. The official PHQ-15 score is the 0 to 30 total. The groups organize the answer pattern so the strongest clusters are easier to discuss.

Can I compare today's score with an older number?

Yes, if the older number came from a complete PHQ-15 scored over a comparable recall window. A rough memory of an older score is weaker evidence.

What should I do with a high score?

Use it as a reason to seek structured follow-up, especially when symptoms are persistent, spreading, impairing daily life, or hard to explain. Seek urgent care first for urgent symptoms.

Glossary:

PHQ-15
A 15-item Patient Health Questionnaire scale for recent somatic symptom severity.
Somatic symptom
A body-related symptom such as pain, digestive trouble, dizziness, fatigue, or breathlessness.
Review cue
A score threshold, especially 10 or 15, that supports closer follow-up.
Symptom driver
A highest-scored symptom that contributes strongly to the current total.
Prior change
The current PHQ-15 total minus a comparable earlier PHQ-15 total.

References: