Validity and reliability study of the quick inventory of depressive symptomatology

Objective: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a clinical syndrome accompanied by all-encompassing low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities, motor retardation or agitation and also characterized by pessimism, low self-esteem, guilt feelings and deteriorations in psychophysiological functions such as sleep and appetite. It is also the most common psychiatric disorder and its incidence is increasing gradually The goal of this study is to analyze validity and reliability of Turkish-adapted QIDS that was developed by Rush et al. to enable quick identifying of depression in patients and volunteers.Methods: Onehundred and sixtytwo patients with depressive disorders, 82 patients with anxiety disorder and 83 healthy volunteers were included to the study. Presence or absence of a psychiatric disease was determined by administering a structured clinical interview; M.I.N.I (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) to all participants. Sociodemographic data form, QIDS self-report scale and QIDS clinician scale was applied to all participants in the study. In addition, patient group received Hamilton depression scale.Results: In validity measurements, QIDS scores of the depressive group was found to be statistically higher than both the healthy controls and the patients that had an anxiety disorder (p=0.000). It was also found that the Inventory had a high internal consistency (cronbach alpha value: 0.901) and had a single factor structure. Interrater reliability was also found to be high (p=0,000).Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the scale, which was translated into Turkish, is a valid and reliable tool for measurement of depression. It is thought that this scale would be beneficial in identifying depressive disorders, mainly major depressive disorders and it can be used in both clinical studies and first step health trials.Key words: Depression, QIDS, validity, reliability