Comparability of telephone and in-person structured clinical interview forDSM-III-R (SCID) diagnoses

The SCID was administered twice, once by telephone and once in person (1 we ek later) to 41 college age men. For major depression (lifetime kappa = .64 , current kappa = .66), results indicated good agreement. The lifetime occu rrence estimate based on the telephone SCID diagnosis was lower than the in -person SCID estimate. Kappas for specific diagnoses were calculable for si mple phobia (lifetime kappa = .47, current kappa = -.03) and social phobia (lifetime kappa = .29). Base rates were less than 10% for all individual di agnoses except lifetime major depression; therefore, the kappas may be unst able. For all diagnoses where there were any positive cases, percentages of negative agreement and specificity were high, whereas percentages of posit ive agreement and sensitivity were lower. Overall agreement was fair for sp ecific lifetime diagnoses but poor for current diagnoses. These results sug gest caution in assuming comparability of in-person and telephone SCID diag noses. Circumstances under which a telephone SCID may be useful and ways to improve reliability are discussed.