Objectives: The Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) has been reported as a valid tool for the assessment of depression because it is based on the core symptoms of depression. The aim of this study is to assess the reliability, validity and psychometric properties of the Korean version of the MADRS (K-MADRS).
Methods: One hundred seven patients, including in-patients and out-patients, diagnosed as major depressive disorder according to the DSM-IV criteria were enrolled in this study. They were assessed with K-MADRS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) to examine cross-validation. Statistical analysis was done using calculation of Cronbach’s alpha, Spearman Correlation Coefficient and Principal Components Analysis.
Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of K-MADRS was 0.79. And the correlations of each item with total score were statistically significant (r=0.47-0.75, p<0.001). The inter-rater reliabilities of total score (r=0.89, p<0.001) and individual score (r=0.74-0.95, p=0.001) were high. The factor analysis revealed two factors. However, the first one accounted for 39% of variance, while the second one only for 11.1%. The total score of K-MADRS showed a significant correlation with those of HDRS, BDI and CGI (r=0.82, 0.47, 0.74, respectively, p=0.001).
Conclusion: The K-MADRS showed good reliability and validity for the assessment of severity of depressive symptoms. And it demonstrated similar psychometric properties to previous studies. The K-MADRS is an useful instrument for assessing depressive symptoms in Korea.
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