Validity of a short clinical interview for psychiatric diagnosis: the mini-SCAN.
BACKGROUND
To promote clinical application of the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN) system a shorter version (the mini-SCAN) was devised. Its psychometric properties were unknown.


OBJECTIVE
To establish the validity and practical properties of the mini-SCAN.


METHODS
One hundred and six participants were interviewed twice, once with the SCAN and once with the mini-SCAN. The level of agreement was established for the categories: no disorder, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, non-affective psychotic disorders, affective psychotic disorders.


RESULTS
The mini-SCAN is a valid instrument. Most kappa values were around 0.90. Only for the class of affective psychotic disorders was the agreement moderate. Mean duration of the mini-SCAN interviews was 25 min shorter than the SCAN interviews. Participants and interviewers were generally satisfied with the interview format and questions.


CONCLUSIONS
The mini-SCAN can be used as a diagnostic instrument for clinical purposes and for clinical studies when the present episode is the focus of attention.
Nienhuis
F J
FJ
University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 30.01, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. f.j.nienhuis@med.umcg.nl
van de Willige
G
G
Rijnders
C A Th
CA
de Jonge
P
P
Wiersma
D
D
D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012984:Software