Development and validation of a screening instrument for bipolar spectrum disorder: the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
Bipolar spectrum disorders, which include bipolar I, bipolar II, and bipolar disorder not otherwise specified, frequently go unrecognized, undiagnosed, and untreated. This report describes the validation of a new brief self-report screening instrument for bipolar spectrum disorders called the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.


METHODS
A total of 198 patients attending five outpatient clinics that primarily treat patients with mood disorders completed the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. A research professional, blind to the Mood Disorder Questionnaire results, conducted a telephone research diagnostic interview by means of the bipolar module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.


RESULTS
A Mood Disorder Questionnaire screening score of 7 or more items yielded good sensitivity (0.73) and very good specificity (0.90).


CONCLUSIONS
The Mood Disorder Questionnaire is a useful screening instrument for bipolar spectrum disorder in a psychiatric outpatient population.
Hirschfeld
R M
RM
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical Branch, the University of Texas at Galveston 77555-01888, USA. rohirsch@utmb.edu
Williams
J B
JB
Spitzer
R L
RL
Calabrese
J R
JR
Flynn
L
L
Keck
P E
PE
Lewis
L
L
McElroy
S L
SL
Post
R M
RM
Rapport
D J
DJ
Russell
J M
JM
Sachs
G S
GS
Zajecka
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone