ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorders are frequently diagnosed and treated as unipolar depression initially and accurate diagnosis is often delayed by 8 to 10years. It has been demonstrated that the bipolar spectrum disorders are associated with notable disability and that the current diagnostic gold standard, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) is not sufficiently sensitive to the diagnosis of hypomania or subthreshold manic states. There is a need for better and simpler ways to identify these conditions. METHODS: Hirschfeld et al. (2000) developed and tested a self-report scale for bipolar disorder: the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). Recently, another scale has been developed by Angst to assess hypomanic symptoms and to increase the detection of suspected and of manifest, but undertreated, cases of bipolar disorders. In this Brazilian study, 200 patients with the putative diagnosis of "depression" were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Axis I Disorders - Clinician Version (SCID-CV; First et al., 1997), as modified by Benazzi and Akiskal (2003) to increase the sensitivity to BP II disorders. Before the interview patients were screened by both HCI-32-R(1) and MDQ and asked to complete them. RESULTS: The HCI-32-R(1) showed a sensitivity of 79.8% and a specificity of 60.5% for the cut-off of 14. A sensitivity of 68.1% and a specificity of 63% were obtained for the Mood Disorder Questionnaire for the cut-off of 7. LIMITATIONS: Although not showing a good specificity, the MDQ seems to be a useful instrument for the screening phase, in which it is important that "cases" are recognized. The HCI-32-R(1) does not distinguish between BP I and BP II disorders. The sample size of patients should be increased in further studies. CONCLUSIONS: The HCI-32-R(1) demonstrated two main factors identified as "active-elated" hypomania and "risk-taking/irritable" hypomania and showed to be a sensitive instrument for hypomanic symptoms. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool for the self-assessment of hypomanic symptoms and may be a valuable supplement to the clinician's interview. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire is a useful screening instrument for bipolar I, bipolar II disorders and other manifestations of bipolar spectrum. As such, this scale might increase the detection of under-treated cases of bipolar disorders. Further studies are needed to verify the accuracy of these tools in non-psychiatric settings and in the general population.