Validation of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire in the general population in Hong Kong

Abstract 

Objective

The objective of the study was to determine the reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) in the general population in Hong Kong.

Methods

One thousand five hundred eighteen adults aged at least 18 years were randomly drawn from the general population and interviewed using a lay-administered version of the MDQ. A subsample of 114 randomly selected participants received a telephone-based Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder, Fourth Edition. Six subjects were diagnosed to have bipolar disorder (bipolar I = 1, bipolar II = 4, and bipolar not otherwise specified = 1), 13 had substance/alcohol use disorder, and 95 had neither bipolar nor substance/alcohol use disorder. We determined the internal consistency, factor structure, and concurrent validity of the Chinese MDQ.

Results

The Cronbach α coefficient of the Chinese MDQ was 0.78. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation indicated a “euphoria-irritability-racing thoughts” factor, an “energized-activity” factor, and a “risky behavior” factor, which explained 46.6% of the rotated variance. There were significant differences in MDQ scores between the bipolar and non–bipolar non–substance/alcohol use disorder groups. The performance of the Chinese MDQ for detecting bipolar disorder was limited by a low sensitivity. Using the original cutoff criterion, defined as clustering of 7 or more symptoms that caused moderate or severe problems, the sensitivity was 0%, whereas the overall specificity was 95.4%. Lowering the cutoff criterion to a symptom score of at least 7 that caused minor or more problems yielded the best sensitivity (0.50) and specificity (0.92).

Conclusion

The Chinese MDQ is a reliable and valid measure of bipolar disorder in the community.