Reliability of the Beck Depression Inventory in opiate-dependent patients

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of depressive disorder in opioid-dependent patients in methadone treatment has been found to be between 19 to 74.3%. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is commonly used as a screening for depressive symptoms. The objective of this study is assessing BDI in opiate-dependent patients.

Methods: A total of 415 patients over 18 years old in a methadone maintenance program that is part of an outpatient drug clinic treated with stable doses of methadone in the last month were assessed using Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Disorders of the DSM-IV (SCID-I) and BDI.

Results: A sample of 118 patients completed the evaluation; 77.96% showed depressive symptoms (N: 92) (BDI scores ≥ 10). Patients who met criteria for depression with SCID-I and BDI (6.7%) showed a higher score in BDI which did not reach significance. Statistical differences were found in the depressive group. Predictive value of BDI was 6.61% with a cut-off point of BDI ≥ 10, growing to 11.7% with a cut-off point of BDI > 30.

Conclusions: BDI is not effective for diagnosing depressive disorder. An adequate psychometric tool is needed to improve the detection of depressive symptoms and depressive diagnosis in opiate-dependent patients in order to reduce risk of relapse and improve treatment strategies.

• BDI
• depressive disorders
• opiate dependent

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to our research team for their support, particularly Drs Begoña Gonzalvo and Elena Ros-Cucurull, the psychiatrists, who help treating these patients, and also Nuria Tarifa and Anna Beneria, psychologists who collaborated with the evaluation.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

We would like to thank Grant of the Subdirecció General de Drogodependències (Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya) for the support of the study of drug dependence.