Standardised Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS): preliminary validation of a brief screen for personality disorder.
BACKGROUND
There is a need for a brief and simple screen for personality disorders that can be used in routine psychiatric assessments.


OBJECTIVE
To test the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of a brief screen for personality disorder.


METHODS
Sixty psychiatric patients were administered a brief screening interview for personality disorder. On the same day, they were interviewed with an established assessment for DSM-IV personality disorder. Three weeks later, the brief screening interview was repeated in order to examine test-retest reliability.


RESULTS
A score of 3 on the screening interview correctly identified the presence of DSM-IV personality disorder in 90% of participants. The sensitivity and specificity were were 0.94 and and 0.85 respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides preliminary evidence of the usefulness of the screen in routine clinical settings.
Moran
Paul
P
Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. paul.moran@iop.kcl.ac.uk
Leese
Morven
M
Lee
Tennyson
T
Walters
Paul
P
Thornicroft
Graham
G
Mann
Anthony
A
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity