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Validation of a German version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E)
Birgitta Metternich1, Kathrin Wagner, Franziska Buschmann
1Freiburg University Medical Center, Epilepsy Center, Germany. birgitta.metternich@uniklinik-freiburg.de
Introduction:
Goal of the present study was the validation of a German version of the Neurological Disorders Depression Inventory for Epilepsy (NDDI-E).
Methods:
197 adult epilepsy patients completed the NDDI-E (185 completed both the NDDI-E and BDI). 95 patients received psychiatric consults.
Results:
33 patients received a diagnosis of major depression according to ICD-10 criteria. Internal consistency of the NDDI-E was .83. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) showed an area under the curve of 0.92. Applying a cutoff score of ≥14 resulted in both sensitivity and specificity of 0.85. In the subsample with psychiatric consult, at the same optimal cutoff, sensitivity was 0.92, and specificity was 0.86. Further analyses showed a high concurrent validity with the BDI.
Discussion:
The German version of the NDDI-E constitutes a brief and reliable depression screening instrument for epilepsy patients.
