title: THE VALIDITY OF THE MOOD DISORDER QUESTIONNAIRE FOR SCREENING BIPOLAR DISORDER: A META-ANALYSIS.
abstract: We conducted a meta-analysis to review the diagnostic accuracy of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) among patients with mood disorders. We used a bivariate random effects model to calculate summary sensitivity and specificity. Twenty-one studies were included. At the standard or modified cutoff value of 7, summary sensitivity was .62 and summary specificity was .85. When we pooled 11 studies including both patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and those with unipolar depression, the summary sensitivity was .76 and summary specificity was .81. However, among the six studies that excluded patients with known BD, the summary sensitivity was significantly reduced to .37 and summary specificity was .88. There were no significant differences on the diagnostic accuracy of the MDQ between studies from Eastern and Western countries after adjusting for various clinical correlates. The overall diagnostic accuracy of the MDQ was relatively good. However, when the MDQ is applied among patients with depression without previous diagnoses of BD, its sensitivity was significantly reduced. This suggests that when the MDQ is applied among this population, its optimal cutoff value should be adjusted to enhance its sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hee Ryung
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Sup
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Woo
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeong Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.|Department of Literary Arts, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
authors.forename: Il Min
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Myong
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Bahk
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards
keywords: assessment/diagnosis; bipolar disorder; depression; measurement/psychometrics; mood disorders