A COMPARISON OF DSM-III-R, DSM-IV AND ICD-10 SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS DIAGNOSES IN 1922 MEN AND WOMEN SUBJECTS IN THE COGA STUDY

A research interview was used to evaluate the relationship relationshi ps between DSM-IV DSM-III-R and ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for substan ce use disorders. The sample of 1992 subjects, including both men and women, was composed of subjects and their relatives from the Collabora tive Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) study. With regard to diagnoses of substance dependence, the analyses revealed that the prop ortions of individuals diagnosed in the three systems were similar, wi th the highest numbers observed for DSM-III-R, the lowest for ICD-10 a nd the figures for DSM-IV between the two. The kappas for dependence d iagnoses ranged from 0.54 to 0.83, with the majority at 0.7 and higher , indicating that the same subjects were being given the same labels i n the three systems. However, the criteria for abuse or harmful use re sulted in rather disparate proportions labeled across the three system s, with kappas that rarely exceeded 0.10.