OBJECTIVES:  To determine the correlation between the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) scores in patients with drug-resistant focal epilepsy (DRE) in comparison with patients with controlled focal epilepsy (CFE). METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional study performed in patients with focal epilepsy (FE) with and without DRE, ≥18 years. Presence and severity of depression were measured using validated Spanish versions of the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). In order to know the correlation between MADRS and BDI-II, two different criteria were used; degree of association obtained on prevalence of depression and correlation between scores from both scales, using Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: 515 patients (DRE=248) were included. Using the MADRS scale, prevalence of depression in the DRE group was almost double than in the CFE group (59.3% vs. 30.3% using unadjusted data and 62.1% vs. 32.6% using adjusted data; p<0.001). Similar results were seen with the BDI, with an overall depression rate of 48.1% using the ≥10 point threshold, and considerably higher rates of depression in the DRE group compared to CFE patients (61.9 % vs. 35.3% using unadjusted data, and 64.8% vs. 37.2% using adjusted data; p<0.001). Correlation between MADRS and BDI-II was 24,4 % (65/266) in  CFE and 51,0% (126/247) in DRE patients, according to the degree of association; while the Pearson correlation coefficient between the two scales was high, at r=0.80. CONCLUSIONS: MADRS and BDI-II showed a positive correlation; the score increment of one scale is directly proportional to the increase of the other scale. In both cases, the strongest contributor to higher MADRS and BDI-II scores was having a previous clinical diagnosis of depression but being untreated for the condition.