Research to support Low Reliability in Diagnosis of Schizophrenia

Jones and Grey - Schizophrenics in Western cultures of Afro-Caribbean descent. 'Symptoms' being misinterpreted by psychiatrists from different cultures. Eg. different style of language = misinterpreted speech. Supports the idea of the cultural background of the psychiatrist can lower the reliability of diagnosis.

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  • Created by: Als5
  • Created on: 11-02-14 15:36

Research to support Low Reliability in Diagnosis o

Stephens et al- Investigated inter-rated reliability of 9 classification systems. 283 patients files were given to doctors and were instructed to diagnose all patients with each CS. Aggrement between classification systems was poor, resulting in the same patient not recieveing the same diagnosis by each system. Therefore supporting that there is low reliability between classification sytems.

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Research to support Low Reliability in Diagnosis o

Mojtabi and Nicholson- Subjective interpretation of psychiatrists = different diagnosis. Study based on clinical characteristics of schizophrenia such as verbal descriptions. One example of a verbal description of a symptom is 'bizarre hallucinations'. 50 psychiatrists were given exampls hallucinations and were asked to catagorise them into 'bizarre' or 'non bizarre'. Only agreed 40% of the time. Supporting the idea that subjctivity of psychiatrists can lower the reliability of diagnosis.

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Research to support Low Reliability in Diagnosis o

Copeland et al- Culture of psychiatrist can lead to differences in diagnosis. 134 US, 194 UK psychiatrists used- given a description of a patient & asked to diagnose using the same classification system. 69% of US diagnosed with schizophrenia, appose to just 2% of UK psychiatrists. Supports the idea that the culture of the psychiatrist can be a factor in lowering reliability of diagnosis.

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Reliability and Validity

RELIABILITY= How consistent something is.

VALIDITY= Does it exist as a unitary disorder? Is the diagnosi accurate?

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