Abstract

SANCHEZ PEDRAZA, Ricardo; JARAMILLO, Luis Eduardo  and  GOMEZ-RESTREPO, Carlos. Development and Validation of a Scale to Measure Manic Symptoms: Mania Scale of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (EMUN). rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2008, vol.37, n.4, pp.516-537. ISSN 0034-7450.

Objective: To develop an instrument that allows a valid and reliable measurement of the manic syndrome. Method: Observational, analytic, and prospective study. 15 psychiatric patients admitted to acute phase treatment (pretest of the items). 95 patients diagnosed as bipolar disorder, manic or mixed episode (factor analysis). 41 psychiatric patients admitted to acute phase treatment (test-retest and inter-rater reliability). 25 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, current episode manic or mixed (sensitivity to change and concurrent validity). Results: An initial 19-item scale has been assembled. In a first step the procedure delimited 5 factors accounting for 67% of the total variance. Factors included in the scale were called physical activation, psychic activation, autonomic activation and its effects, and depressionmegalomania polarity. All of these factors showed adequate levels of internal consistency.Lin'fs concordance correlation coefficient revealed adequate scores for interrater reliability and test-retest reliability. Pearson correlation coefficient between total scores on the EMUN and the MRS ranged from 0.61 to 0.92. Conclusions: A 16-item scale for manic syndrome has been developed. This scale has an adequate content validity and defines 4 domains adequately covered by the items. Results indicate the EMUN is both reliable and valid measuring severity of mania. This scale is a reliable instrument that performs consistently over time.

Keywords : Psychiatric status rating scales; bipolar disorder; statistical factor analysis; psychometrics.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )