Validation of the Chinese version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire in a psychiatric population in Hong Kong

Abstract

Aims:The aim of the present study was to determine the validity of a Chinese version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) as a screening instrument for bipolar disorder in a psychiatric outpatient population in Hong Kong.Methods: A total of 185 patients primarily being treated for mood disorders were asked to fill in the Chinese MDQ and supply other personal data during their scheduled clinic visit. The mean age was 43.0 years and 65.9% were female. A subsample of 102 randomly selected subjects, stratified by the MDQ symptom score, received a telephone-based Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID). Sixtytwo patients (60.8%) were suffering from bipolar disorder (bipolar I, n = 48; bipolar II, n = 9; bipolar disorder not otherwise specified, n = 5), 35 (34.3%) from depressive disorder, and one (1.0%) from substance dependence, while four (3.9%) were unaffected by either mood or alcohol/substance use disorder. The internal consistency, factor structure and operating characteristics of the Chinese MDQ were analyzed. Results:The internal consistency of the Chinese MDQ, evaluated using Cronbach alpha, was 0.82. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation indicated an 'energized-activity' factor and an 'irritability-racing thoughts' factor, which explained 47.2% of the rotated variance. The optimal cut-off was seven or more manic symptoms occurring within the same time period, which yielded a sensitivity of 0.73 and a specificity of 0.88 for detecting bipolar disorder. An additional criterion that the symptoms cause impairment resulted in significant loss of sensitivity. Conclusion:The Chinese MDQ is a valid screening instrument for bipolar disorder in a psychiatric outpatient population.

Detección del riesgo para los trastornos del espectro bipolar: evidencias de validez del Mood Disorder Questionnaire en adolescentes y adultos jóvenes

“…Por ejemplo, Carta et al 29 , realizando un aná-lisis factorial exploratorio y confirmatorio, encontraron una estructura de 2 factores bastante similar a la informada en este trabajo. Esta estructura de 2 factores también ha sido hallada en pacientes diagnosticados 30,31,58,59 , siendo indicativo de un cierto paralelismo fenotípico entre las estructuras encontradas a nivel clínico y subclínico. Por ejemplo, Sanchez-Moreno et al 31 , en un estudio realizado en pacientes españoles, encontraron una estructura de 2 factores bastante convergente a la hallada en esta investigación.…”

“…Estudios previos llevados a cabo en muestras de la población general encuentran niveles de consistencia interna para la puntuación total del MDQ superiores a 0,75 25---28 . Resultados equivalentes se han hallado cuando se examinan los niveles de consistencia interna en muestras de pacientes con trastorno bipolar 30,31,59,60 . No obstante, hasta el momento, ningún trabajo previo que se conozca había examinado la fiabilidad de las puntuaciones del MDQ con el alfa para datos ordinales o desde la óptica de la TRI.…”

Lifetime prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and diagnostic overlaps of bipolar spectrum disorder in the general population of South Korea

“…However, the MDQ has been validated to have acceptable specificity and sensitivity (Hirschfeld et al, 2003b;Jon et al, 2009). Moreover, as Chung et al (2008) suggested, we reduced the impairment threshold from moderate to minimal in order to minimize under-diagnosis of subclinical hypomania. Though there is no absolute consensus on operational definition of Sub-BP, the MDQ can still be used to improve the recognition of BPS (Yildiz et al, 2015).…”

Mood Disturbance in Adolescents Screened by the Mood Disorder Questionnaire Predicts Poorer Social Adjustment

“…The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the MDQ in adults has also been previously reported [17]. The current investigation adopted the methodologies used in previous studies whereby the first and second sections of the MDQ were used, whereas the third section was excluded in the calculations on sensitivity and specificity for the MDQ and then the analysis of the relationships with other variables.…”

“…The current investigation adopted the methodologies used in previous studies whereby the first and second sections of the MDQ were used, whereas the third section was excluded in the calculations on sensitivity and specificity for the MDQ and then the analysis of the relationships with other variables. This modification was intended to help improve its sensitivity as a screening instrument [17,19,22]. Impulsiveness Scale.…”