Validation of the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale in depressed patients in Serbia

Abstract

Introduction/Objective The aim of this study was the validation of the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) in patients in Serbia suffering from depression.

Methods Both test and retest situations have been conducted on 162 adult patients with major depressive disorder, and on 110 individuals that have not shown any type of mental disorder (control group). The sample included 58.8% male and 41.2% female participants, age between 20 and 79 years (M = 42.26, SD = 11.53) with no differences between groups in terms of participants’ sex and age. The following instruments were used: MADRS, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale.

Results MADRS has shown good psychometric characteristics: internal consistency, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and its discriminatory validity is adequate. Study also confirmed the one-dimensionality of the instrument. Statistically significant differences between the groups, in terms age and education, have been identified, but the effects of the differences were small.

Conclusion The MADRS scale has shown good psychometric characteristics in our study; thus, it may be used for the assessment of depressed states in Serbian patients.

Keywords: depression; Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale; instrument validation