Evaluation of Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) in patients with mood disorders: a multicenter trial across China

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 4;9(4):e91895. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091895. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to test the ability of the Chinese version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) to identify Bipolar Disorders (BD) in patients diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or Unipolar Disorder (UD) in the clinical setting.

Methods: 1,487 being treated for MDD or UD at 12 mental health centers across China, completed the MDQ and subsequently examined by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). Receiver Operating Characteristic(ROC) curves were used to determine the ability of the MDQ to differentiate between BD (BD, BD-I and BD-II) and MDD or UD and patients with BD-I from patients with BD-II.

Results: Of the 1,487 patients, 309 (20.8%) satisfied the DSM-IV criteria for BD: 118 (7.9%) for BD-I and 191 (12.8%) for BD-II. When only part one of the MDQ was used, the best cutoff was 7 between BD and UD (sensitivity 0.66, specificity 0.88, positive predictive value 0.59, negative predictive value 0.91), 6 between BD-II and UD, and 10 between BD-I and BD-II. If all three parts of the MDQ were used, the MDQ could not distinguish between BD and UD at a cutoff of 7 (or 6), and the sensitivity was only 0.22 (or 0.24).

Conclusion: The Chinese version of the MDQ had good psychometric features in screening bipolar disorders from depressive patients with mood disorders when part two and part three of the MDQ were ignored.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Bipolar Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Bipolar Disorder / epidemiology
  • China / epidemiology
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / complications
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / diagnosis*
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mood Disorders / complications
  • Mood Disorders / diagnosis*
  • Mood Disorders / epidemiology
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
  • Psychometrics / methods*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the grant (200602032) from the scientific and technological bureau of Shenzhen in China. The study was initiated by the Chinese Society of Psychiatry (CSP) with support from AstraZeneca China. AstraZeneca China had no role in the study design or in the generation and interpretation of the results. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis,decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.