title: Reliability of interview information in a family study in the elderly.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the combined test-retest and interrater reliability of different psychiatric lifetime diagnoses yielded in the course of a family study in elderly patients and controls. The following interviews and questionnaires were used in combination: the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), the Structured Interview for the Diagnosis of Dementia of the Alzheimer Type, Multi-infarct Dementia and Dementias of Other Aetiology (SI-DAM), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and questionnaires for neurasthenia and recurrent brief depression (RBD). Depressive and dementia disorders can be diagnosed with good reliability in a family study setting with the use of these instruments. The diagnoses of phobic disorders, neurasthenia, RBD, subthreshold RBD and psychiatric caseness as indicated by GHQ-12 scores were less reliable in this setting and are therefore less suitable for use in family studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heun
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Freyberger
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Maier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results