title: DSM-III field trials: I. Initial interrater diagnostic reliability.
abstract: The interrater agreement for major diagnostic categories in studies using DSM-I and DSM-II was usually only fair or poor. In phase one of the DSM-III field trials the overall kappa coefficient of agreement for axis I diagnoses of 281 adult patients was .78 for joint interviews and .66 for diagnoses made after separate interviews; for axis II--personality disorders and specific developmental disorders--the coefficients of agreement were .61 and .54. The interrater reliability of DSM--III is, in general, higher than that previously achieved and may be due to changes in the classification itself, the separation of axis I from axis II conditions, the systematic description of the various disorders, and the inclusion of diagnostic criteria.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008370:Manuals as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014481:United States