In article , "Adrian Berry"
says...
snip

A good way to put screws into the "end grain" of MDF is to use the old
fashioned fibre rawlplugs/

Drill a tight fitting hole, fill with wood glue and tap in the plugs flush
to the surface (trimming, if necessary, with a sharp chisel)

When dry, screw into the plugs - a good fixing is obtained and the chance of
splitting the MDF is much reduced.

Similarly you can drill holes through the panel in line with the screws,
glue dowel into the holes and trim flush, then drill clearance through
the MDF and pilot through the dowel and squirt some glue into the holes
before screwing. This is fiddly but makes it very unlikely that the MDF
will split.

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But better just to not use MDF (or timber of any sort) where joint
strength would rely on screwing into end grain.
Having said that, piano hinges would spread the load well and might be
worth considering.