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.