Skip to content

Introduction

The Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) is a 10-item clinician-rated instrument used to organize ratings of depressive symptom severity and change over time.

Administration is based on a clinical interview and professional judgment. This page remains a scoring worksheet for recording that clinician-led assessment; unaided online answers are not an equivalent self-test and cannot diagnose a depressive disorder.

Any score must be considered with safety assessment, functional impact, medical context, and the clinician's full evaluation.

Instructions

A qualified clinician should rate each of the 10 items from 0 to 6 after interviewing and observing the patient over the relevant period. Values 1, 3, and 5 represent intermediate severity. Use this page to record clinician-made ratings, not as an unaided self-assessment.

This is not a standard self-report test

Clinician-rated; not a self-report depression test

Question 1 / 100 answered
Apparent SadnessRepresenting despondency, gloom and despair, (more than just ordinary transient low spirits) reflected in speech, facial expression, and posture. Rate by depth and inability to brighten up.

Scoring and result metrics

The result page reports a local screening score for this questionnaire. Use the score range, any subscale scores, and the interpretation band together rather than treating one number as a diagnosis.

Score range
0-60
Items scored
10
Result indicators
Total score / Interpretation band when available

Score interpretation bands

  • 0-6Little to no depression

    Scores in the 0-6 range are indicative of little to no depression symptoms

  • 7-19Mild depression

    Scores in the 7-19 range are indicative of mild depression symptoms.

  • 20-34Moderate depression

    Scores in the 20-34 range are indicative of moderate depression symptoms.

  • 35-60Severe depression

    Scores in the 35-60 range are indicative of severe depression symptoms.

Interpretation bands summarize screening thresholds from the questionnaire source material. Higher scores usually indicate more of the measured concern unless the tool notes a different scoring rule.

Tool information

Version
MADRS clinician-rated worksheet
Administration
Clinician-rated; not a self-report depression test
Intended audience
Trained clinicians rating depressive symptom severity after an interview and clinical observation

Sources

  1. SA Montgomery, M Asberg. A New Depression Scale Designed to be Sensitive to Change. British Journal of Psychiatry 134 (4): 382-389. 04-1979.
  2. JBW Williams, KA Kobak. Development and Reliability of a Structured Interview Guide for the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (SIGMA). The British Journal of Psychiatry 192 (1): 52-58. 2008.

Related tests

Explore related screening tools in the same topic area.