A MADRS total runs from 0 to 60, and a higher total means more severe depression symptoms. A trained rater scores ten areas from 0 to 6 after an interview. Survey Doctor shows the total without a severity label because published groupings differ. The total is not a diagnosis.
The quick answer
Your total is the sum of ten ratings, and each rating runs from 0 to 6. A total of 0 means every item was rated at its lowest step. A total of 60 means every item was rated at its highest step.
Survey Doctor does not add a label such as "mild" or "severe". The 1979 paper did not publish severity bands, and later studies grouped totals in different ways for different groups of patients. The most useful comparison is with your own earlier totals, rated the same way.
The original 1979 MADRS study describes a clinician rating scale designed to be sensitive to symptom change during treatment. It does not make the scale a diagnosis. Interview findings, observation, function, safety, and the clinical setting still matter.
How each item is rated
Each item describes what a rating of 0, 2, 4, and 6 looks like. A rater can choose 1, 3, or 5 when you fall between two of those descriptions. For example, a rating of 3 sits between the descriptions for 2 and 4.
Survey Doctor's form shows all seven choices for every item, so each choice saves its own value. The item wording follows the version published with the scale in 1979.
What a valid MADRS rating contains
A valid administration uses interview information and observation across ten domains. They cover observed and reported sadness, inner tension, sleep, appetite, concentration, activity, ability to feel, pessimistic thoughts, and suicidal thoughts.
The clinician records one 0-to-6 rating for every domain and adds all ten values. Keep the edition, assessment interval, item ratings, rater method, and completion date with the total. Those details are necessary when comparing results over time.
The MADRS is clinician-administered. Survey Doctor does not offer it as a self-service assessment.
Manual and historical totals are limited
Current manual entry accepts one whole-number total from 0 to 60. It does not capture the ten item ratings, prove that an authorized form was used, confirm completeness, or show the suicidal-thoughts response.
Some older imported records also contain only a total from an incompatible source form. Survey Doctor preserves those numbers as limited history. Survey Doctor shows them in reports and charts as recorded, without a current interpretation. Their missing items cannot be reconstructed.
A total from a verified outside administration is still not equivalent to a current native digital result. Keep the source form and method with it.
Suicidal thoughts require separate review
The tenth MADRS domain concerns thoughts about death and suicide. For native item-level records, Survey Doctor marks any value above 0 for direct safety review. That product rule is intentionally conservative. It does not replace a suicide-risk assessment.
A total alone cannot show whether the tenth item contributed points. Review the actual response and current safety directly. Follow the organization's suicide-risk protocol rather than waiting for a total.
If you need help now. In the US, Call 988 or text 988. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or find support in your country.
Related depression questionnaires
The QIDS-SR-16 score guide and PHQ-9 score guide explain depression questionnaires that people answer themselves. They use different items, methods, and score meanings. Their results cannot be converted into a MADRS total.
The bottom line
Your MADRS total shows how a trained rater scored ten areas of depression, from 0 to 60. A higher total means more severe symptoms, but the number is not a diagnosis, and Survey Doctor does not label it with a severity band. Compare it with earlier totals rated the same way, and talk with your clinician about what has changed. Any item 10 rating above 0 needs its own safety review.
The MADRS assessment page explains the scoring in more detail.