title: Delusional infestation: the case for improved mental state testing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Delusional infestation may present as a primary disorder or secondary to another disorder (e.g. schizophrenia). In this report we focus on the issue of inadequacies in mental state examinations leading to diagnostic uncertainty.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case studies were identified for this review through searching the academic databases MedLine, PSYCInfo and PubMed. We developed a template that contained 36 headings and independently examined each case study report. Our percentage agreement for the first 42 case studies we reviewed was 91%.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified diagnostic uncertainty due to inadequacies in the reporting of mental state examinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinicians need to provide mental state information to an adequate standard that would allow confirmation of a diagnosis of delusions of infestation or exclude other possibilities.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Clinical Psychology Student, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia jessica.oconnell@unimelb.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jessica E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.affiliation: Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Henry J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jackson
mesh_terms: D063726:Delusional Parasitosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D000073216:Mental Status and Dementia Tests / Q000592:standards*
keywords: case studies; delusional infestation; diagnosis; mental state examinations