Validation of HCL-33 in screening for bipolar disorder in patients with depressive episode

Abstract

IntroductionHypomania Check List 33 (HCL-33) constitutes a self-rating questionnaire for lifetime history of hypomanic symptoms, used in patients who present with depressive symptoms and a further screening for bipolar disorder is required.Objectives- Translation and cultural adaptation of HCL-33- Measuring psychometric abilities, gender and age differences in scoreMethodsIn order to culturally adapt, standardize and validate the instrument for the Albanian context, the reliability and validity of the HCL-33 was examined using an sample of 99 patients, of whom 22 were diagnosed as bipolar disorder but all presented with a depressive episode.In order to reach reliability, internal consistency analyses were performed.ResultsThe factor analysis yielded two factor, with an internal consistency of .838 and .736 from the Cronbach’s alphas, with a total alpha of .765, falling within the “good to excellent” range.Furthermore, Albanian norm scores and cut-off scores have been generated for the Albanian version of HCL-33. The article provides evidence regarding the psychometric propërties and utility of HCL-33 in the Albanian adult population for clinical assessment, outcome evaluations and research purposes. With a cut-off value of 16, sensitivity was 73% and specificity was 53%, with a prevalence of 22% and positivie predictive value of 30% and negative predictive value 87%.Gender differences were not relevant in the total scoring, but there was a positive correlation between age an HCL-33 scoring (r(n=99)=.243, p≤.01), especially with Factor II (r(n=99)=.211, p≤.05).ConclusionsThe article provides evidence regarding the psychometric properties and utility of HCL-33 in the Albanian adult population as a screening tool for bipolar disorder in patients presenting with a depressive episode.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared