Comparison of the validity of the Chinese versions of the Hypomania Symptom Checklist-32 (HCL-32) and Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for the detection of bipolar disorder in medicated patients with major depressive disorder

OBJECTIVE: The sensitivity and specificity of the Chinese versions of the Hypomania Symptom Checklist-32 (HCL-32) and Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for detecting bipolar disorder in Taiwan were explored in this study. METHODS: In total, 59 participants who were initially diagnosed with unipolar depression were recruited from an outpatient clinic and were screened for bipolar disorder using the HCL-32 and MDQ; each participant also underwent a diagnostic interview based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis disorder patients (SCID). RESULTS: The results showed that the HCL-32 yielded the best combination of sensitivity (100%) and specificity (46.2%) at a cut-off point of 7/8, and the MDQ yielded the best combination of sensitivity (71.4%) and specificity (76.9%) at a cut-off point of 6/7. CONCLUSION: The results of our study demonstrate that the HCL-32 and MDQ are of reasonable validity to distinguish between bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. However small sample size may limit generalization of the results.