title: Validity of the mood disorder questionnaire: a general population study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study tested the validity in the adult general population of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, a screening instrument for bipolar I and II disorders. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire has been validated in a psychiatric outpatient study group.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 711 subjects (stratified by Mood Disorder Questionnaire score) were randomly selected from a group of 85,358 adult respondents in a nationwide epidemiological general population sample that was balanced for key demographic variables. Of these, 695 subjects received a telephone interview involving an abbreviated version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A sensitivity of 0.281 and a specificity of 0.972 were obtained for the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Mood Disorder Questionnaire is a useful screening instrument for bipolar I and II disorders in the community. The operating characteristics of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire in the general population differ substantially from its characteristics in outpatient psychiatric settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical Branch, 1.302 Rebecca Sealy, 301 University Blvd., Galveston, TX 77555-0188, USA. rohirsch@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Robert M A
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hirschfeld
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Holzer
authors.forename: Joseph R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.forename: Myrna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weissman
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: Marilyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Davies
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Frye
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Keck
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tierce
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hazard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology