The utility of the MCMI as a DSM-III Axis I diagnostic tool.
The present study examined the utility of the MCMI as a provider of DSM-III Axis I diagnostic hypotheses with a heterogeneous psychiatric inpatient population. Participants represented 31 consecutive referrals made to the psychology department for a clinical and/or diagnostic assessment from a psychiatric rehabilitation unit. Three independent diagnoses derived from the MCMI, a structured interview (DIS), and an unstructured psychiatric interview were obtained for each participant. The percentage agreement between the two criterion diagnoses was 54.8%. Agreement between the MCMI and criterion diagnoses was, at best, 15% for those cases that had an Axis I diagnosis. These findings are in keeping with past research and support the contention that the MCMI is not a useful tool in generating clinically correct or meaningful DSM-III Axis I diagnostic hypotheses.
Bonato
D P
DP
Psychology Department, Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Cyr
J J
JJ
Kalpin
R A
RA
Prendergast
P
P
Sanhueza
P
P
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D011594:Psychometrics; D012017:Referral and Consultation