Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS)
Document clinician-rated depressive symptom severity and change over time
Reference information · Questionnaire
- Last content update
- 2026-10-26
- Clinical review
- Not independently reviewed
- Source jurisdiction
- See individual sources
- Coverage
- Questionnaire
| Field | Instrument context |
|---|---|
| Version | English ten-item APA-hosted Montgomery1978 form;0–6 coding with anchored even/intermediate odd steps |
| Population | Adults receiving clinical assessment of depressive symptoms |
| Respondent | Trained health care professional interview and observation |
| Recall period | Record the assessment interval, whether weekly or otherwise |
| Purpose | Document clinician-rated depressive symptom severity and change over time |
A total does not establish individual item responses.
The rating is based on a clinical interview. The rater must decide whether the rating lies on the defined scale steps (0,2,4,6) or between them (1,3,5). The scale may be used for any time interval between ratings, whether weekly or otherwise, and this must be recorded. Odd response points1,3,5 are intermediate ratings without additional verbal anchors.
©Stuart Montgomery1978, Measures of Depression, Fulcrum Press, London. Copyright notice retained from the exact APA-hosted form. Montgomery SA and Åsberg M (1979), British Journal of Psychiatry134:382–389.
Responses stay in this page’s memory. Reset or leave the page to clear them. No patient identifiers are collected.
Interpretation & limitations
- Add all ten ratings; range0–60. Higher totals indicate greater symptom severity within this version.
- No universal diagnostic or severity cutoff is imposed. Interpret with the clinical interview, assessment interval and population.
- The suicidal-thoughts item requires direct clinical review regardless of the total.
- Use requires trained clinical judgment and a consistent documented assessment interval. Missing observations must not be entered as absent.
- No automatic diagnosis, medication change or declaration of safety.
References · 2
- APA-hosted exact English form, full questions and response anchors
- APA depression guideline: access and permission statement for this exact linked PDF · The American Psychological Association depression guideline assessment page explicitly identifies its linked version as public domain and states that permission is not required for use. Preserve source attribution and the exact linked edition; this does not establish clinical or production approval.