Limitations in the current classification systems for dementia.
A brief review of classification in psychiatry from Kraepelin to ICD-10 and DSM-IV reveals that the categorical paradigm inherent in these nosological systems has certain inadequacies when applied to dementia specifically and cognitive impairment in general. There are "outcasts" from these two systems that, with the rapid advances in an understanding of cognitive disorders, expose significant limitations in them. As and when they are revised, serious consideration of a different view, accepting a dimensional paradigm, would contribute to a more inclusive and clinically relevant nosology for dementia and cognitive disorders.
Chiu
Edmond
E
University of Melbourne Department of Psychiatry, Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, Normanby House, St George's Hospital, 283 Cotham Rd, Kew, Victoria 3101, Australia. e.chiu@unimelb.edu.au
D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D009626:Terminology as Topic