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Definitions of Psychiatric Syndromes—Comparison in Hospital Patients and General Population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

S. P. Sashidharan*
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF

Abstract

Four sets of commonly used ‘operational definitions' of psychiatric disorders were applied to clinical information, obtained on the basis of semi-structured interviews with samples of hospital in-patients, out-patients, and general population. The agreement among them in defining ‘cases' and in assigning specific diagnostic categories was examined. There was considerable variation among the diagnostic systems in distinguishing between ‘cases' and ‘non-cases' and in identifying sub-groups of cases as having specific diagnoses. Comparison of operationally defined syndrome categories with diagnoses assigned by clinicians also showed much disagreement.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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