Screening for bipolar disorders in patients with alcohol or substance use disorders: performance of the mood disorder questionnaire.

Background: Screening properties of the mood disorder questionnaire (MDQ) to detect bipolar disorder (BD) in patients with substance use disorders are unknown.

Methods: 403 treatment seeking patients with a substance use disorder completed the MDQ and subsequently 111 MDQ positives and 59 MDQ negatives were assessed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV to diagnose BD. In addition, given the overlap with BD symptoms, the presence of borderline personality disorder (BPD), antisocial personality disorder (APD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), were assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and the Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality.