Reliability and validity of a Brazilian version of the Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32) compared to the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ)

Abstract

Objective: Bipolar disorders are often not recognized and undertreated. The diagnosis of current or past episodes of hypomania is of importance in order to increase diagnostic certainty. The Hypomania Checklist-32 is a self-applied questionnaire aimed at recognizing these episodes. As part of the international collaborative effort to develop multi-lingual versions of the Hypomania Checklist-32, we aimed to validate the Brazilian version and to compare its psychometric properties with those of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.

Method: Adult outpatients with bipolar disorder I (n=37), bipolar disorder II (n=44) and major depressive disorder (n=42) of a specialized mood disorder unit were diagnosed according to DSM-IV-TR using a modified version of the SCID. We analyzed the internal consistency and discriminative ability of the Hypomania Checklist-32 Brazilian version in relation to the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.

Results: The internal consistency of the Brazilian Hypomania Checklist-32, analyzed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, was 0.86. A score of 18 or higher in the Hypomania Checklist-32 Brazilian version distinguished between bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder, with a sensitivity of 0.75 and a specificity of 0.58, compared to 0.70 and 0.58, respectively, for the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (score>7). The Hypomania Checklist-32 Brazilian version showed a dual factor structure characterized by "active/elated" and "risk-taking/irritable" items. Hence, the Hypomania Checklist-32 Brazilian version was found to have a higher sensitivity but the same specificity as the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.

Conclusion: The Brazilian version of the Hypomania Checklist-32 has adequate psychometric properties and helps discriminating bipolar disorder from major depressive disorder (but not bipolar disorder I from bipolar disorder II) with good sensitivity and specificity indices, similar to those of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire.