The sensitivity and specificity of the Major Depression Inventory, using the Present State Examination as the index of diagnostic validity.
BACKGROUND
A self-rating inventory has been developed to measure DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnoses of major (moderate to severe) depression by the patients' self-reported symptoms. This Major Depression Inventory (MDI) can be scored both according to the DSM-IV and the ICD-10 algorithms for depressive symptomatology and according to severity scales by the simple total sum of the items.


METHODS
The Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) was used as index of validity for the clinician's DSM-IV and ICD-10 diagnosis of major (moderate to severe) depression. The sensitivity and specificity of MDI was assessed in a sample of 43 subjects covering a spectrum of depressive symptoms.


RESULTS
The sensitivity of the MDI algorithms for major depression varied between 0.86 and 0.92. The specificity varied between 0.82 and 0.86. When using the total score of MDI the optimal cut-off score was estimated 26 and the total score was shown to be a sufficient statistic.


CONCLUSIONS
The sample of subjects was limited. Patients with psychotic depression were not included.


CONCLUSIONS
The MDI was found to have a sensitivity and specificity which is acceptable. The questionnaire is brief and can be scored diagnostically by the DSM-IV and ICD-10 algorithms as well as by its simple total score.
Bech
P
P
Psychiatric Research Unit, Frederiksborg General Hospital, DK-3400 Hilleroed, Denmark. pebe@fa.dk
Rasmussen
N A
NA
Olsen
L R
LR
Noerholm
V
V
Abildgaard
W
W
D000328:Adult; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; 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