title: Diagnosing comorbidity in substance abusers. Computer assessment and clinical validation.
abstract: This study compares DSM-III-R lifetime diagnoses assigned to a sample of substance abusers in treatment made by the Computerized Diagnostic Interview Schedule (C-DIS) with those made by clinicians on the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) and patient chart information. A sample of 173 subjects were interviewed with the C-DIS and then by a clinician using the SCID. A second SCID was administered by a different clinician to 80 of the subjects 1 to 2 weeks later and consensus diagnoses were then made using all available information. With the exception of antisocial personality disorder and most psychoactive substance use disorders, the initial C-DIS showed poor diagnostic agreement with the initial SCID. As a potential screening instrument, the C-DIS did identify 30 of the 32 subjects with a consensus axis I (nondrug) disorder, but diagnosed twice as many positives as were confirmed by the consensus diagnoses. A negative C-DIS for comorbid disorders was confirmed in 9 out of 10 cases by clinicians.
authors.affiliation: Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Swinson
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doumani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology