Applicability of the Chinese Version of the Hypomania Symptom Checklist (HCL-32) Scale for Outpatients of Psychiatric Departments in General Hospitals

Objectives This study aimed to determine the suitability of the Chinese version of the Hypomania Symptom Checklist (HCL-32) scale for psychiatric department outpatients with mood disorders in Chinese general hospitals, and provide a theoretical basis for the application of the HCL-32 scale. Methods Outpatients with mood disorders receiving continuous treatment in the psychiatric medicine department of three top-ranking general hospitals in three cities completed scoring the HCL-32 scale. Results A total of 1010 patients were recruited. 417 were diagnosed with bipolar disorder (236 for type I and 181 for type II) and 593 were depression. Four factors with eigenvalues >1 were considered. Factor 1 with an eigenvalue of 5.5 was labeled “active/cheerful”. Factor 2 with an eigenvalue of 2.7 was labeled “adventurous/irritable.” The coefficient of internal consistency reliability of the HCL-32 total scale was 0.84, and the coefficients for factors 1 and 2 were 0.84 and 0.88, respectively. With the total score of HCL-32≥14 as positive standard, the sensitivity of HCL-32 was calculated at 69.30% and the specificity was 97.81%. Conclusions Results showed that HCL-32 had a preferable reliability and validity and was suitable as auxiliary means for bipolar disorder screening in general hospitals.