Prevalence of dissociative disorders among psychiatric inpatients in a German university clinic

The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of dissociative disorde rs among psychiatric inpatients in Germany and to investigate the relations hip between childhood trauma and dissociation. The German version of the Di ssociative Experiences Scale (DES), the Fragebogen fur Dissoziative Symptom e (FDS), was used to screen 115 consecutive inpatients admitted to the psyc hiatric clinic of a university hospital. Patients with FDS scores higher th an 20 were interviewed by a trained clinician, using the German translation of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Dissociative Disorders (SC ID-D-R). The German version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) was administered to investigate prevalence of childhood trauma and relations b etween childhood trauma and dissociation in adult life. Twenty-five of the 115 patients (21.7%) had a score higher than 20 on the FDS. Of these, 15 pa tients were interviewed with the SCID-D-R. One patient was diagnosed with a dissociative identity disorder, three with dissociative disorders not othe rwise specified, and one patient with depersonalization disorder. Ah diagno ses were confirmed clinically. A significant positive relationship was foun d between the severity of childhood trauma and dissociation. Dissociative d isorders are common among German psychiatric inpatients. Clinicians who wor k in psychiatric inpatient units should be mindful of these disorders.