title: Validation of the standardised assessment of personality--abbreviated scale in a general population sample.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Personality disorder (PD) is associated with important health outcomes in the general population. However, the length of diagnostic interviews poses a significant barrier to obtaining large scale, population-based data on PD. A brief screen for the identification of people at high risk of PD in the general population could be extremely valuable for both clinicians and researchers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We set out to validate the Standardised Assessment of Personality - Abbreviated Scale (SAPAS), in a general population sample, using the Structured Clinical Interviews for DSM-IV Personality Disorders (SCID-II) as a gold standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ten randomly selected, community-dwelling adults were administered the SAPAS screening interview. The SCID-II was subsequently administered by a clinical interviewer blind to the initial SAPAS score. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to assess the discriminatory performance of the SAPAS, relative to the SCID-II.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Area under the curve for the SAPAS was 0.70 (95% CI = 0.60 to 0.80; p < 0.001), indicating moderate overall discriminatory accuracy. A cut point score of 4 on the SAPAS correctly classified 58% of participants. At this cut point, the sensitivity and specificity were 0.69 and 0.53 respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The SAPAS operates less efficiently as a screen in general population samples and is probably most usefully applied in clinical populations.
authors: Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Marcella Lei-Yee
authors: ML
authors: Fok
authors: MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Seth
authors: S
authors: Seegobin
authors: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Souci
authors: S
authors: Frissa
authors: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Stephani L
authors: SL
authors: Hatch
authors: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Matthew
authors: M
authors: Hotopf
authors: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Richard D
authors: RD
authors: Hayes
authors: Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Moran
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity