The Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) is a ten-item diagnostic questionnaire which mental health professionals use to measure the severity of depressive episodes in patients with mood disorders. It was designed in 1979 by British and Swedish researchers (Stuart Montgomery and Marie Åsberg) as an adjunct to the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD) which would be more sensitive to the changes brought on by antidepressants and other forms of treatment than the Hamilton Scale was. There is, however, a high degree of statistical correlation between scores on the two measures.Relationship Between the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale in Depressed Elderly: A Meta-analysis from the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Interpretation The questionnaire includes questions on ten symptoms: Apparent sadness Reported sadness Inner tension Reduced sleep Reduced appetite Concentration difficulties Lassitude Inability to feel Pessimistic thoughts Suicidal thoughts

Each item yields a score of 0 to 6; the overall score thus ranges from 0 to 60.Test: Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) in BioPsychoSocial Assessment Tools for the Elderly - Assessment Summary Sheet. The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. In turn citing:

McDowell, I. (2006). Measuring Health: A guide to rating scales and questionnaires 3rd Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. Higher MADRS score indicates more severe depression. Usual cutoff points are: 0 to 6: normal /symptom absent 7 to 19: mild depression 20 to 34: moderate depression 35 to 60: severe depression.

MADRS-S A self-rating version of this scale (MADRS-S) is often used in clinical practice and correlates reasonably well with expert ratings. The MADRS-S instrument has nine questions, with an overall score ranging from 0 to 54 points.

See also Comprehensive Psychopathological Rating Scale Diagnostic classification and rating scales used in psychiatry

References

External links Automatically scored digital version of the MADRS Full version of the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale Side-by-side comparison of the MADRS and HAMD