title: Validity of a short clinical interview for psychiatric diagnosis: the mini-SCAN.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre Groningen, Department of Psychiatry, P.O. Box 30.01, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. f.j.nienhuis@med.umcg.nl
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Nienhuis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van de Willige
authors.forename: C A Th
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Rijnders
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Jonge
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wiersma
mesh_terms: 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