THE ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS IN PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS - INTERRATER RELIABILITY OF THE SWEDISH VERSION OF THE CAMBERWELL ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS INSTRUMENT AND RESULTS FROM A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The assessment of needs has been put forth as an important dimension i n both the planning, development and evaluation of psychiatric service s. A needs assessment tool for routine use should ideally be brief, no t require additional staff, be valid and reliable with respect to sett ing, gender and culture, and also be sensitive to changes in needs and differences in needs between subgroups of patients. In this study, th e interrater reliability of the Swedish version of the Camberwell Asse ssment of Needs instruments (CAN), measuring needs in 22 areas, was in vestigated in a cross-sectional sample consisting of 119 psychiatric i npatients and outpatients. The prevalence and severity of needs, preva lence of unmet needs, as well as current help received was also invest igated. The interrater reliability of the instrument was found to be g ood both measured as total percentages of agreement in ratings, where an agreement of 80% or above was found in 90% of the comparisons, and as measured by Cohen's kappa. Predominant needs in the sample were in addition to clinical needs concerning psychological distress and psych otic symptoms, social needs such as the need for company, daytime acti vities and information concerning condition and treatment. The CAN see ms to be a instrument with a high interrater reliability also when use d under routine conditions as in this study. It also seems to have a h igh degree of feasibility with regard to different types of patients a nd settings and a sensitivity concerning differences in needs in subgr oups of patients.