Performance of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) according to bipolar subtype and symptom severity.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the performance of the French version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) in patients attending a general psychiatric outpatient service as well as whether MDQ scores are independent of patient mood state at time of completion.


METHODS
183 patients completed the MDQ and were assessed with the MADRS and YMRS scales, before being interviewed with the SCID (time 1). MDQ, MADRS and YMRS assessment was repeated four to six weeks later (time 2).


RESULTS
According to the SCID, 44 patients were suffering from bipolar spectrum disorder and 102 from unipolar disorder (37 patients dropped out). The MDQ provided high specificity (83.3%). Sensitivity was 63.6%, with better identification of bipolar I (85.0%) than bipolar II patients (45.8%). In the whole sample, test-retest reliability was satisfactory (kappa=0.64). Modest correlations were observed between the number of endorsed MDQ items and YMRS scores at time 1 (Spearman r=0.19; p=0.021) and time 2 (r=0.26; p=0.002).


CONCLUSIONS
Despite some fluctuations over time and a discrete influence of symptom severity, the screening algorithm can be used reliably, whether in the acute or remission phase of a depressive episode.
Gervasoni
Nicola
N
Service of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland.
Weber Rouget
Béatrice
B
Miguez
Mélissa
M
Dubuis
Vesselin
V
Bizzini
Vera
V
Gex-Fabry
Marianne
M
Bondolfi
Guido
G
Aubry
Jean-Michel
JM
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult