It is a self-report paper-and-pencil scale that includes yes and no answers and is based on the DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association 1994). The scale consists of three questions. The first question, consisting of 13 sub-items, asks about lifetime history of manic or hypomanic symptoms, elevated mood, irritability, assertiveness, sleep, libido, thought, attention, energy and behavior. In these questions, which start with "Have you ever had a period of time when you felt that you were not your natural self and ...?", the symptoms of the disease are questioned with questions such as ".... have you ever gotten angry very easily and yelled at people or started fights and arguments?", "... have you ever felt more confident than usual?", ".... have you ever slept much less than usual but still did not feel the need to sleep?". The second question asks whether the symptoms marked as "yes" are present simultaneously. In the third question, the effect of these symptoms on functionality is questioned. The scale also includes questions 4 (family history of bipolar disorder) and 5 (previous bipolar diagnosis), which have been shown not to be directly related to getting positive results in screening (Hirschfield et al. 2000).
After obtaining permission for use from the researchers who conducted the validation study of the original form of the scale, the DBQ was translated into Turkish by two psychiatrists fluent in English. The translation, which was applied on different people from four different educational and socioeconomic levels and two different geographical regions, was adapted by reaching a consensus on the most appropriate Turkish equivalents. Two different versions, which were back-translated by professional translators, were used in the study after they were merged by Dr. Hirschfeld, who studied the validity of the original form and confirmed their fidelity to the original.
Structured Clinical Interview for DSM IV Axis I Disorders, Clinical Version (SCID-CV) (First MB et al. 1996) is a semi-structured diagnostic interview schedule that was translated into Turkish and validated by Çorapçıoğlu et al.
The findings suggest that the DBQ can be used for screening in bipolar disorder with a cut-off point of 7 and above. Although a positive DBQ in the screened groups does not mean a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, it emphasizes the need for a more detailed evaluation of these individuals due to the risk of bipolar disorder.