Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment (Sep 2020)
Validity of the Shahin Mixed Depression Scale: A Self-Rated Instrument Designed to Measure the Non-DSM Mixed Features in Depression
Abstract
Islam Shahin,1 Caterina Del Mar Bonnin,2 Elsayed Saleh,3 Khaled Helmy,4,5 Usama M Youssef,6 Eduard Vieta2 1Cairo Mood Center, Cairo, Egypt; 2Barcelona Bipolar Disorders and Depressive Unit, Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; 3Department of Psychiatry, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt; 4Training and Research Unit, New Nozha Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt; 5Ciconia Recovery London (CRL), London, UK; 6Department of Psychiatry, Zagazig University, Zagazig, EgyptCorrespondence: Islam Shahin Tel +201150759876Email [email protected]: The DSM5-defined mixed features in depression do not include psychomotor agitation, irritability or distractibility because they are considered overlapping symptoms. A growing number of modern psychiatrists have expressed dissatisfaction with this and proposed alternative sets of mixed symptoms that are much more common and clinically relevant. Among such alternative criteria were those proposed by Koukopoulos. He utilized the research diagnostic criteria of agitated depression (RDC-A) as a mixed depression subtype, and validated another form of mixed depression, the Koukopoulos criteria for mixed depression (K-DMX).Purpose: This study provides psychometric validation for the first self-rated scale designed to measure the most common mixed symptoms in depression as proposed by Koukopoulos.Patients and Methods: We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study of 170 patients with unipolar depression. They completed the Shahin Mixed Depression Scale (SMDS) and underwent expert interviews as a gold standard reference. SMDS’ psychometric properties were assessed, including Cronbach’s alpha, factor analysis, sensitivity, specificity, predictive value and accuracy.Results: We found significant association and agreement between mixity according to SMDS and the gold standard (K-DMX and RDC-A according to expert interview) with good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha=0.87), high sensitivity (=91.4%), specificity (=98.0%), positive predictive value (=96.9%), negative predictive value (= 94.2%) and accuracy (=95.2%). Factor analysis identified one factor for psychomotor agitation and another for mixity without psychomotor agitation.Conclusion: SMDS was a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the frequently encountered and clinically relevant mixed features in depression.Keywords: mixed depression, mixed depression scale, major depressive disorder, psychomotor agitation, agitated depression, unipolar depression
