The use of the NDDI-E in Arabic to identify symptoms of depression of moderate or greater severity in people with epilepsy.
OBJECTIVE
The aims of the current study were to translate and to validate the NDDI-E to the Arabic language to be used as a screening instrument to identify moderately severe symptoms of depression in people with epilepsy.


METHODS
The English version of the NDDI-E was translated to Arabic and back translated to English by two independent translators. A total of 51 patients, aged 18-56years old, with a diagnosis of epilepsy, completed the Arabic versions of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the NDDI-E. Patients with BDI scores >20 were considered to be suffering from moderately severe depressive symptoms. Cutoff scores, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the NDDI-E to identify symptomatic patients on the BDI were calculated.


RESULTS
A sensitivity of 93.33% and a specificity of 94.44% were found with NDDI-E total scores >15. The positive predictive value was 87.5%, and the negative predictive value was 97.14%. Spearman's rank correlation between the BDI and the NDDI-E was high (r=.78, p=0.000, N=51). Internal consistency was at 0.926 (Cronbach's alpha).


CONCLUSIONS
The Arabic version of the NDDI-E appears to be a reliable and sensitive instrument in the identification of moderately severe or severe depressive symptoms in people with epilepsy, and it can be used with all Arabic-speaking patients.
Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK. Electronic address: halkhamees@gmail.com.
Hadeel A
HA
Alkhamees
Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
Caroline E
CE
Selai
Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
Simon D
SD
Shorvon
Department of Neurology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Andres M
AM
Kanner
D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014175:Translating
Arabic validation; Depression screening; Epilepsy; NDDI-E