The inter-rater reliability of the Japanese version of the Montgomery-Asberg depression rating scale (MADRS) using a structured interview guide for MADRS (SIGMA).

The inter-rater reliability of the Japanese version of MADRS (MADRSJ) was examined using the structured interview guide for MADRS (SIGMA) developed by our group. Two or more psychiatrists attended the systematic interview sessions with each subject to evaluate MADRSJ independently, using SIGMA. A total of 18 interviews was carried out for seven patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder. The severity of each item assessed by the raters ranged from 0 to 6 for nine items and from 0 to 4 for one item. The analysis of variance intraclass correlation coefficient inter-rater reliability values for the individual items carried out by two trained personnel ranged from 0.91 to 1.00, while those achieved by three raters ranged from 0.85 to 1.00. The present results suggest that SIGMA is a potentially useful interview guide for assessing ten symptoms of MADRSJ precisely in patients with a depressive disorder.