The use of the NDDI-E in Arabic to identify symptoms of depression of moderate or greater severity in people with epilepsy

Aim: The aims of the current study were to translate and to validate the NDDI-E to the Arabic language to be used as a screening instrument to identify moderately severe symptoms of depression in people with epilepsy. Methods: The English version of the NDDI-E was translated to Arabic and back translated to English by two independent translators. A total of 51 patients, aged 18-56 years old, with a diagnosis of epilepsy, completed the Arabic versions of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and the NDDI-E. Patients with BDI scores >20 were considered to be suffering from moderately severe depressive symptoms. Cutoff scores, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the NDDI-E to identify symptomatic patients on the BDI were calculated. Results: A sensitivity of 93.33% and a specificity of 94.44% were found with NDDI-E total scores >15. The positive predictive value was 87.5%, and the negative predictive value was 97.14%. Spearman's rank correlation between the BDI and the NDDI-E was high (r = .78, p = 0.000, N = 51). Internal consistency was at 0.926 (Cronbach's alpha). Conclusion: The Arabic version of the NDDI-E appears to be a reliable and sensitive instrument in the identification of moderately severe or severe depressive symptoms in people with epilepsy, and it can be used with all Arabic-speaking patients. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.