title: Experience with current multiaxial diagnostic systems: a critical review.
abstract: It is difficult to capture the complexity of the psychiatric condition with a single diagnostic category, and a multiaxial approach provides a more comprehensive picture of the current disorder. The WPA section on classification has developed a multiaxial schema based on the ICD-10 family of classifications. Four axes are proposed. Axis I: on clinical disorders; axis II: on disabilities; axis III: on contextual factors, and axis IV: on quality of life. Even though the multiaxial approach has been widely taught and surveys report on its international acceptability, daily use by clinicians of the 'non-diagnostic' axes have till now been limited, despite expressed interest by the very same clinicians. The multiaxial formulation is still developing and transcultural experiences need to be gained.
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Department, Amager Hospital, Copenhagen Hospital Corporation, Copenhagen, Denmark. marianne.kastrup@mail.tele.dk
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kastrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases / Q000145:classification*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results