Clinical Study Screening for Bipolar Disorder Symptoms in Depressed Primary Care Attenders: Comparison between Mood Disorder Questionnaire and Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32)

Copyright © 2013 Anna Sasdelli et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective. To describe the prevalence of patients who screen positive for bipolar disorder (BD) symptoms in primary care comparing two screening instruments: Mood Disorders Questionnaire (MDQ) and Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32). Participants. Adult patients presenting to their primary care practitioners for any cause and reporting current depression symptoms or a depressive episode in the last 6 months.Methods. Subjects completed MDQ and HCL-32, and clinical diagnosis was assessed by a psychiatrist following DSM-IV criteria. Depressive symptoms were evaluated in a subgroup with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Results. A total of 94 patients were approached to participate and 93 completed the survey. Among these, 8.9 % screened positive with MDQ and 43.0 % with HCL-32. MDQ positive had more likely features associated with BD: panic disorder and smoking habit