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    Depression · 10 items · 0–50 · Bech P et al. (2001). J Affect Disord.

    Major Depression Inventory: Scoring, Cutoffs & Interpretation

    10-item self-report measure of depression severity, developed in Denmark.

    Usage conditions apply. Free to use in clinical practice. Developed with the World Health Organization. Please reproduce it in full and keep the original attribution to the Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand.

    MDI0 / 10

    How much of the time, during the past two weeks, have you experienced each of the following?

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    01Have you felt low in spirits or sad?
    02Have you lost interest in your daily activities?
    03Have you felt lacking in energy and strength?
    04Have you felt less self-confident?
    05Have you had a bad conscience or feelings of guilt?
    06Have you felt that life was not worth living?
    07Have you had difficulty concentrating, for example when reading the newspaper or watching television?
    08Have you felt restless, subdued or slowed down?
    09Have you had trouble sleeping at night?
    10Have you suffered from reduced or increased appetite?
    0 of 100 / 50

    02 - The clinician's brief

    01 - What it measures

    What this scale measures.

    The MDI asks how often, over the past two weeks, the person has experienced ten core depressive symptoms, including low mood, loss of interest, low energy, reduced confidence, guilt, thoughts that life is not worth living, poor concentration, restlessness or slowing, sleep disturbance and appetite change. It works both as a severity rating and, through a diagnostic algorithm, as a screen for a depressive episode.

    02 - Origin & purpose

    Where it comes from.

    The MDI was developed by Per Bech and colleagues at the Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand, in collaboration with the World Health Organization. It is unusual in being both a severity scale and a diagnostic instrument, and it is freely available, including a validated Danish version.

    03 - Scoring & cutoffs

    How scoring works.

    Each item is rated 0 (at no time) to 5 (all the time). The ten items sum to a severity score of 0 to 50. Common severity bands are 0 to 20 (no or doubtful depression), 21 to 25 (mild), 26 to 30 (moderate) and 31 to 50 (severe). A separate diagnostic algorithm based on the ICD-10 symptom pattern can also be applied.

    Score
    Severity
    Interpretation
    0–20
    No or doubtful depression
    No or doubtful depression.
    21–25
    Mild
    Mild depression.
    26–30
    Moderate
    Moderate depression. A treatment plan should be considered.
    31–50
    Severe
    Severe depression. Active treatment and close risk review are indicated.

    04 - When to use it

    Right tool, wrong tool.

    Use it as a self-report measure to screen for depression and to monitor severity over time. It is well suited to Danish-speaking patients given its origin and native-language version.

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