Issues with Classification/diagnosis Of Schizophrenia Flashcards
Findings of Keith et al (1991)
2.1% of black African-Americans were diagnosed, compared with 1.4% of white Americans
- supports the idea of cultural bias
- suggest a biological predisposition, social conditions may have an impact
Findings of Birchwood and Jackson (2001)
Found that up to 20% of those diagnosed never have a recurrence of the disorder after the first episodes
Supports the idea of lack of validity, problem of subjective judgement of clinician or may be a result of overlapping symptoms with other syndromes
Findings of Sim et al (2006)
Studied 142 hospitalised schizophrenics and found comorbidity in 32%. These patients had less awareness of their condition and poorer outcomes than those with no comorbidity
Suggests that comorbidity is relatively common and drug regimes may lead to confusion
Only a 1/3 of patients so isn’t large evidence.
what are the issues of classification and diagnosis?
- two different classification systems (ICD and DSM, which are western assumptions) which change over time
- issues of reliability and validity
- wide range of symptoms that are said to indicate schizophrenia, so those diagnosed will not all experience the same symptoms
- issues of validity
- classification systems describe related disorders, such as schizoaffective disorder, schizoid personality disorder - these have symptoms in common with schizophrenia
- issues of validity
- comorbidity (suffering two disorders at once), especially with depression. These other disorders have symptoms in common with schizophrenia
- issues of validity
- no objective test for schizophrenia and is based on the subjective judgement of the clinician based on observation and self-report
- issues of reliability and validity
- symptoms may be interpreted differently in different cultures, e.g. Auditory hallucinations
- issues of reliability and cultural bias
Findings of Rosenhan (1973)
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