Is the Beck Depression Inventory suitable for screening major depression in different phases of the disease?
This prospective study aimed to assess the suitability of the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-21) as a screening method for current episodes of major depressive disorder in different phases of the disease. In a sample of treatment-seeking outpatients (n=125), a structured interview method (SCID) was used twice with a 2-year interval to screen whether the patient had a current episode of major depressive disorder. The validity of the BDI-21 was also analysed by means of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The results showed that with a cut-off point of 14/15 the BDI-21 can be used to indicate the presence of a major depressive episode regardless of the phase of the major depressive disorder. The sensitivity and specificity were quite satisfactory with this cut-off point. The areas under the ROC curves were large (0.81 at baseline and 0.93 at follow-up). The same BDI-21 cut-off point is suitable for screening major depression among outpatients in any phase of the disease.
Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland. heimmo.viinamaki@kuh.fi
Heimo
H
Viinamäki
Antti
A
Tanskanen
Kirsi
K
Honkalampi
Heli
H
Koivumaa-Honkanen
Kaisa
K
Haatainen
Olli
O
Kaustio
Jukka
J
Hintikka
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires