TESTING THE COMPARABILITY OF PSYCHIATRIC DIAGNOSES IN ICD-10 AND DSM-III-R

The compatibility of the classification systems ICD-10 and DSM-III-R w as investigated in a sample of 100 psychiatric inpatients with severe affective and psychotic disorders. Four independent raters assessed di agnoses by means of checklists from psychopathological descriptions of case records. Congruence between ICD-10 and DSM-III-R was good for de pressive disorders with agreement rates above 80% and fair for bipolar disorders with rates above 60%. Less consistent findings were obtaine d for schizophrenia with rates of 57.5% for ICD-10 diagnoses and 82.6% for DSM-III-R diagnoses. Agreement for schizoaffective disorder was b elow 40% and thus insufficient. The results indicate that even small d ifferences in the definitions of mental disorders may result in consid erable inconsistencies.