Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Committee Chair Name & Credentials:
  Michele Martens, DNP, RN, PMHCNS-BC
• Committee Member Name & Credentials:
  Michele Martens, DNP, RN, PMHCNS-BC

DNP Project Abstract

Utilizing the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for early diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder

Purpose
To increase the ability of a provider to diagnose Bipolar Spectrum Disorder (BSD) by 25% or greater for new patients presenting for an initial psychiatric evaluation utilizing the screening instrument The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

Methods
The MDQ was administered to all new patients (N=38) ages 13 to 65 years presenting for an initial psychiatric evaluation between dates 9/8/22 to 11/4/22 at an outpatient psychiatric office in Southern California.

Patients were given the MDQ by the provider marking the answers to the 13 symptoms questions, severity of symptoms question to personal functioning, and the presence of concurrent symptoms. The answers were totaled by the provider to determine if the patient screened positive or negative.

An individual screened positive for BSD if they responded "YES" to 7 out of the 13 symptoms questions, "YES" to the presence of concurrent symptoms, and "MODERATE" or "SEVERE" to the severity of concurrent symptoms to personal functioning question.

The number of new patients screened positive (11), was divided by the total number of new patients (N=38), and expressed as a percentage (28.9%). The percentage of new patients screened postive for BSD was compared to the previous percentage of patients screened positive (3.6%) to determine if the MDQ resulted in an improvement in the ability of the provider to screen for BSD.

Results
Eleven of the total new patients (N=38) or 28.9%, presenting for an initial psychiatric evaluation screened positive for BSD. This was an eight-fold increase in the previous percentage of patients screened positive for BSD 17(3.6%), N=464. The MDQ demonstrated a significant increase of eight times in the ability of the provider to diagnose BSD compared to the previous practice of diagnosing patients from a clinical interview and expert opinion alone.

Implications for Practice
The utilization of the MDQ as a screening instrument to diagnose bipolar spectrum disorder provides for increased detection of BSD which will allow for earlier treatment, potentially mitigating disease burden, disease severity, and will ultimately decrease morbidity and mortality of individuals being treated in the outpatient psychiatric setting.