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The Hypomania Checklist-32 and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire as screening tools — going beyond samples of purely mood-disordered patients

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Thomas Meyer

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Abstract

Background: Bipolar disorders are often not recognized. Several screening tools have been developed, e.g., the Hypomania Checklist-32 (HCL-32) and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) to improve this situation. Whereas the German HCL-32 has been used in non-clinical samples, neither the HCL-32 nor the MDQ has been validated in German samples of mood-disordered patients. Additionally, hardly any prior study has included patients with non-mood disorders or has considered potential effects of comorbid conditions. Therefore the goal of this study was to test the validity of both scales in a diverse patient sample while also taking into account psychiatric comorbidity. Method: A multi-site study was conducted involving seven centers. Patients (n = 488) completed the HCL-32 and MDQ and were independently interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID). Results: Sensitivity for bipolar I was similar for HCL-32 and MDQ (.88 and .84) but slightly different for bipolar II (.90 and .83), specificity, however, was higher for MDQ. In general, a comorbid condition led to increased scores in both tools regardless of whether the primary diagnosis was bipolar or not. Limitations and discussion: Although we included not just mood-disordered patients, detailed subgroup analyses for all diagnostic categories were not possible due to sample sizes. In summary, HCL-32 and MDQ seem fairly comparable in detecting bipolar disorders although their effectiveness depends on the goal of the screening, psychiatric comorbidity, and potentially the setting. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Meyer TD, Bernhard B, Born C, Fuhr K, Gerber S, Schaerer L, Langosch JM, Pfennig A, Sasse J, Scheiter S, Schöttle D, van Calker D, Wolkenstein L, Bauer M

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Affective Disorders

Year: 2011

Volume: 128

Issue: 3

Pages: 291-298

Print publication date: 31/07/2010

Date deposited: 19/05/2011

ISSN (print): 0165-0327

ISSN (electronic): 1573-2517

Publisher: Elsevier BV

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.07.003

DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2010.07.003

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