PsychEducation.org (home)
Downloading the MDQ
Remember, a positive MDQ does not mean the patient has bipolar disorder.
You could do more harm than good, using this test, if you do not recall the effects of "prevalence" on the predictive value of a test result. Do not use the following scoring guidelines without a quick review of sensitivity, specificity and predictive values as applied to this test. Read at least the top section of that essay. The longer version describes why a negative MDQ comes close to "ruling out" bipolar disorder, whereas a positive MDQ must be interpreted in light of your hunch before you gave the test.
Used with the prevalence-based interpretations described in the above link, a "positive" test includes at least:
- 7 yes's on question 1
- yes on question 2
- "yes" on question 3: there is at least a minor problem
(one analysis suggests you should ignore question 3 for scoring purposes)(questions 4 and 5 are there to meet FDA Warning guidelines)
Hint: "7yy", to remind you of these cut-off's, appears at the bottom right on your printout, were you to forget.