The reliability of the standard for clinicians' interview in psychiatry (SCIP): a clinician-administered tool with categorical, dimensional and numeric output.
BACKGROUND
Existing standardized diagnostic interviews are not used by psychiatrists in clinical settings. There is an urgent need for a clinician-administered tool for assessment of adult psychopathology that produces dimensional measures, in addition to categorical diagnoses.


METHODS
The Standard for Clinicians' Interview in Psychiatry (SCIP) was designed to be used in clinical settings and generates dimensional measures. The reliability of the SCIP was tested at six sites: one hospital and two clinics in USA, two hospitals in Egypt and one clinic in Canada. Participants were adult patients who were admitted for inpatient psychiatric treatment or came for regular office visits in the outpatient clinic. Refusal rate was <1%. Missing data were <1.1%. Patients with dementia, mental retardation or serious medical conditions were excluded. A total of 1,004 subjects were interviewed between 2000 and 2012.


RESULTS
Inter-rater reliability (Kappa) was measured for 150 SCIP items: 116 items (77.3%) had good reliability (Kappa>0.7), 28 items (18.7%) had fair reliability (Kappa ranges from 0.5 to 0.7) and six items (4%) had poor reliability (Kappa<0.5). Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was measured for the SCIP dimensions: anxiety, posttraumatic stress, depression, mania, hallucinations, Schneider first-rank symptoms, delusions, disorganized thoughts, disorganized behavior, negative symptoms, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, attention and hyperactivity. All of the SCIP dimensions had substantial Cronbach's alpha values (>0.7) with the exception of disorganized thoughts (Cronbach's alpha=0.375).


CONCLUSIONS
The SCIP is a reliable tool for assessing psychological symptoms, signs and dimensions of the main psychiatric diagnoses.
West Virginia University. Electronic address: Aboraya@scip-psychiatry.com.
Ahmed
A
Aboraya
Ain Shams University.
Ahmed
A
El-Missiry
Therapeutic Youth Day Treatment, Richmond VA, USA.
Johnna
J
Barlowe
West Virginia University.
Collin
C
John
University Health Network, Toronto-Western Hospital.
Alireza
A
Ebrahimian
Yale University School of Medicine.
Srinivas
S
Muvvala
United Summit Center.
Ja'me
J
Brandish
Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Hader
H
Mansour
West Virginia University.
Wanhong
W
Zheng
West Virginia University.
Paramjit
P
Chumber
West Virginia University.
James
J
Berry
West Virginia University.
Daniel
D
Elswick
West Virginia University.
Cheryl
C
Hill
West Virginia University.
Lauren
L
Swager
Mansoura University.
Warda
W
Abo Elez
Mansoura University.
Hala
H
Ashour
Mansoura University.
Amal
A
Haikal
Mansoura University.
Ahmed
A
Eissa
Ain Shams University.
Menan
M
Rabie
Ain Shams University.
Marwa
M
El-Missiry
Ain Shams University.
Mona
M
El Sheikh
Ain Shams University.
Dina
D
Hassan
Ain Shams University.
Sherif
S
Ragab
Ain Shams University.
Mohamed
M
Sabry
Ain Shams University.
Heba
H
Hendawy
Ain Shams University.
Rola
R
Abdel Rahman
Ain Shams University.
Doaa
D
Radwan
Ain Shams University.
Mohamed
M
Sherif
Ain Shams University.
Marwa
M
Abou El Asaad
Ain Shams University.
Sherien
S
Khalil
Ain Shams University.
Reem
R
Hashim
United Summit Center.
Katherine
K
Border
United Summit Center.
Roberto
R
Menguito
West Virginia University.
Cheryl
C
France
West Virginia University.
Wei
W
Hu
West Virginia University.
Olivia
O
Shuttleworth
West Virginia University.
Elizabeth
E
Price
D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D002170:Canada; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012984:Software; D014481:United States
Psychiatric interview; diagnostic criteria; dimensional scores; standardized diagnostic interviews