The Major Depression Inventory (MDI) is a self-report mood questionnaire developed by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
. The instrument was constructed by a team led by Professor Per Bech, a psychiatrist based at
Frederiksborg General Hospital in
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The MDI differs from many other
self-report inventories, such as the
Beck Depression Inventory
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, BDI-1A, BDI-II), created by Aaron T. Beck, is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report inventory, one of the most widely used psychometric tests for measuring the severity of depression. Its development mar ...
(BDI), because it is able to generate an
ICD-10
ICD-10 is the 10th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), a medical classification list by the World Health Organization (WHO). It contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social cir ...
or
DSM-IV
The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (''DSM''; latest edition: ''DSM-5-TR'', published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a com ...
diagnosis of
clinical depression
Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...
in addition to an estimate of symptom severity.
[Olsen LR, Jensen DV, Noerholm V, Martiny K, Bech P. The internal and external validity of the Major Depression Inventory in measuring severity of depressive states. Psychol Med 2003; 33, 351-356 ]
Unlike many other similar instruments, the MDI is available free of charge and can be downloaded from the internet with a full manual and scoring instructions. This makes it an attractive option in
epidemiological
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and Risk factor (epidemiology), determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent dise ...
population surveys. It has also been translated into seven languages.
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Scoring
To measure treatment outcome the sum of the ten items is used. A higher score signifies deeper depression.
When using the scale to diagnose depression according to ICD-10, there are the following possibilities:
* Mild depression: A score of 4 or 5 in two of the first three items. Plus a score of at least 3 on two or three of the last seven items.
* Moderate depression: A score of 4 or 5 in two or three of the first three items. Plus a score of at least 3 on four of the last seven items.
* Severe depression: A score of 4 or 5 in all of the first three items. Plus a score of at least 3 on five or more of the last seven items.
* Major depression: The number of items is reduced to nine, as Item 4 is part of Item 5. Include whichever of the two items has the highest score (item 4 or 5). A score on at least five items is required, to be scored as follows: the score on the first three items must be at least 4, and on the other items at least 3. Either Item 1 or 2 must have a score of 4 or 5.
See also
*
Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry
Diagnosis (: diagnoses) is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in a lot of different disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " cause and effect". ...
References
:*Fawzi, M.H., Fawzi, M.M., Abu-Hindi, W., (2012). Arabic version of the Major Depression Inventory as a diagnostic tool: reliability and concurrent and discriminant validity. East. Mediterr. Health J.;18(4):304-10.
External links
Online version of the Major Depression InventoryWorld Health Organization's Collaborating Centre in Mental Health
{{Depression rating scales
Depression screening and assessment tools